Ticking Clocks and Falling Sands
by Jael Rainer
Summary: Reversed time allows for new possibilities. Will the future be saved? Or will Prince Nuada condemn Earth to destruction once again? Nuada/OC Slow going but still moving!
1. Prologue

AN:

Hey. I don't know if any one reading this is one of my very loyal followers from the Avatar verse but if you are, nice to see you again. If not, Hello. This is an idea that I've had in my head for a while. If you like it and want to see more, please let me know I'm not wasting my time. If not. well sorry for wasting yours. Although you could tell me where I went wrong and then maybe I can fix it. Hint. Well read and hopefully enjoy.

**Author's Request: since you are reading this story, I will assume you like Prince Nuada. There is an online petition to make a movie about the prince's life, or to bring him back somehow. It's been there for some time now, but with this boost in Nuada fics, I shall assume the interest in him was renewed, so if you could go and view the awesome trailer and sign the petition and tell your friends to do it as well, would be just great! Here's the address, just remove the spaces:**

**w w w . petitiononline nuada / petition . html**

One more thing. Any religious views or cultural norms that are mentioned ARE NOT MINE! The belong to the characters only. I have my own views that have no impact on the characters. I try very hard to make the characters well rounded. Please keep in mind this story has always taken place in an alternate universe that is close to ours but is not our world. This is a work of fiction, based on another artist's creation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ticking Clocks and Falling Sands

**Prologue**

This wasn't the way the world was supposed to be. It wasn't supposed to be falling down around their ears. Red hadn't even caused it! Damn it!

"Liz!" Hellboy yelled firing off another round at the nameless evil that followed, nipping at their heels. "Get in the circle!" He stripped off his khaki jacket as a tentacle tangled into its tails. One of the arms of muscle attempted to twine itself around his neck, Red caught it and squished it in his massive stone hand. "Ya mind!" The creature it was connected to squealed in pain. "I'm talking to my wife!" He turned his attention back to Liz, firing a shot or two over his shoulder. "Get the kids to safety!"

"Red! Get your big red butt across this damned line!" The brunette firestarter screamed hauling the two ten year olds who scarily enough were as good shots as their father was, with just about anything that was in their hands from spitballs to an AK-47 or the odd bazooka. And right now her daughter was throwing a live grenade in her father's direction while her son unloaded his automatic rifle into demon that was only going to keep being reborn and keep coming until they were dead. No this wasn't how these last ten years were supposed to go.

"Liz! Duck!" Hellboy yelled picking his son up by his tail and dragging him back to the relative safety of the circle, as six figures in bloodied and muddied white robes pulled themselves across the protective barrier. The sphere only worked on the supernatural, but something as simple as projectile weaponry passed through it with ease. "This had better work witch!" Red directed to the witch that was in charge. He may not be fond of her but she was the only one with a plan that had even a snowballs chance in hell of getting them through the night. Oh yeah life was great.

"We only get one shot at this!" The older woman yelled throwing off her robe as a demon spat a ball of fire onto the loose flowing material. "Let's make

it count!" She took a deep breath and held out her hands to the members of the coven beside her as they formed a circle within the protective sphere. Her vibrant green eyes slid shut as she began chanting, others repeating after her in a never ending circle before beginning again.

_"Sands of time, reverse the days."_

Two days ago Hellboy, Liz, the children and what was left of the BPRD that still liked them, and wasn't dead, were in hiding in the sewers. That was where the witches found them. There were twenty four at first. The leader had walked the others through the solid wall of their tunnel hideaway like it was only a veil of mist. He had automatically taken a shot which stopped less than six inches in front of the leader. She smiled, it was a normal reaction in these troubled times when evil roamed the earth. With a small twist of her fingers the bullet compressed and formed a small pentacle that she sent spinning off to land in his hand.

"We're friends. And if you want to see the sun rise in three days," She pulled two guns from the holsters on her hips and put them on the floor as a sign of good faith. "Normally I dislike disarming myself but if it gets my point across, fine." She took off her long overcoat like robe. "We," she gestured to her companions, "may have a way to set all things straight. So unless you want this," she waved her hands and a cloudy picture that Hellboy and Liz knew all too well floated above the ground, "I suggest we work together."

Hanging in the air before them sat Hellboy on a pile of rubble. His horns long and twisted like they were when he faced Rasputin all those years ago. Smoke and ash filled the blood red sky against which empty skeletons of forgotten buildings stood like bones of some giant creature from times long past. Liz and the kids were no where to be found, the only trace of them was the tears that scored his cheeks. Anung un Rama was a beast with a heart, but no one ever said what side he fought on. Or why.

"Who the hell are you?" Liz growled, moving in front of her children. Anger filled her veins as Hellboy's face clouded with grief. Loosing Liz and the kids were his worst nightmare.

The older woman smiled indulgently. "You have nothing to fear from us, Liz Sherman, wife and mate of the one called Hellboy, mother of two of the most powerful beings on this planet." Her smile fell on the two children as a fond remembrance tickled her ear in the form of a soft breeze that came from no where. "Please don't swear. It's bad for the chi. My name is Mara. I am both Romani, and a daughter of Eire. These are my friends. We may have a way to turn back time."

"And do what?" Red asked, mockery laid heavy in his tone.

"Have someone fix this," she motioned. The gesture taking in everything around them. "Fix everything. Fix what happened to cause all of this."

"Someone?" Hellboy snarled. "Let's say what ever your plan is, actually works. You're going to give the responsibility of saving the world to a nameless someone?"

Mara tossed her heavy braided hair over her shoulder. Grey strands streaked through her mane showing the years she tried to hide. Lines creased her face with what felt like eons of worry. "Not just someone. My daughter. Jada Kai Gry. She goes by Kai most of the time." Mara looked as if she just swallowed a lemon. Which was silly, no one had seen fresh fruit in nearly a year. "We plan to open a portal to send her a message. And then pray she can do enough to change our future."

"Send her a message?" Liz asked. Granted this sounded like yet another lesson in disaster so far, but hey, when you knew you only had days left if even that you ran every Hail Mary play you had left. "She isn't going through?"

"She died ten years ago. The night of the tooth fairies." Mara took a deep breath to steady her nerves, the same as she always did when her daughter was mentioned. "She died in an alley less than a block away from the auction house barely an hour before the auction began. I sent her there to be on the look out for objects that, let's put it this way, it would be better if they didn't land in the wrong hands. If this works she'll be alive and so will we."

"Why can't one of us go back and fix everything?" One of the remaining BPRD agents asked.

"Because our paths are already set. If we stepped through the portal nothing would change, all knowledge of this time and place would be lost. All we would experience was a wicked case of Deja Vu." She thought back to the times they tried it. Each a different way, each failing miserably. "The same people react the same ways creating the same circumstance that others react to the same way and it never stops. The only option left is to try someone new to change the circumstance, to react in a different way."

She went on to explain everything they had tried in the last ten years. Every option, every possibility. They had even sent someone to stop the muggers that caused Jada's death, only to have her die in the Tooth Fairy attack. But the death of the Elven prince and princess always followed, causing the unseen world to disappear. Slowly, painfully, with death and despair at the end of each and every road. The only option they hadn't tried in ten years, was to let Kai be the lynch pin all on her own. And maybe, just maybe, things would work out. With a lot of luck and prayers.

So two days later, here they were. On top of a ley line nexus putting their lives and hopes on the proverbial line to maybe change the past, and perhaps protect the future.

_"Before the storms, and earth was set ablaze."_

The wind began howling, trying to drown out the words. Hair whipped around peoples faces, and each in turn shut their eyes. Faces of those loved and lost returned to their minds giving them the will to continue. Abe, who died in an explosion. Jada, who died at a knife's point. Countless others without end who perished and didn't have to.

All because the world was thrown out of balance. Without the unseen realm to safe guard nature and good, evil swam through the world, from the molten center to the air above consuming everything in its path. It wasn't that humans were the source, only that with nothing to oppose them they opened the door. A door through which anger and greed, hatred and fear widened to allow the true evil to rule. And those last remaining few who attempted to oppose, to fight back, didn't have the strength to hold any sway over the tide. They died, or turned. Until there was nothing left.

And if they failed tonight, they all knew they may as well let the coming hell sweep them away. There would be nothing left to fight for.

_"Reweave the cloth of fate, reveal the in-between."_

A blast went off somewhere to the right and the group ducked, still joined at the hands, still chanting. Lending each one his power and inner strength to this cause, this moment.

_"Nudge the one who can wars abate, both seen and unseen!"_

Liz began blazing with blue fire as the portal opened with aching slowness, adding her own rage and fury to it's formation, acting like a shot of adrenaline to a over taxed heart.

_"Save future, past, and present, with one twist of chance!"_

Hellboy's horns elongated from his skull as the power of their act began humming within the circle. Grass sprouted at their feel and rubble rolled away as in this space time reversed, bound only by their presents and powered only by their will.

_"May one heart relent, with one change in circumstance!"_

Thunder clapped as the earth around them split in its fury. And then all seemed to stop and stare in amazement. Sounds of the rage outside dimmed then faded into silence. Time stopped and stood still at attention. Arrested by the raw energy and majesty of what was occurring. Then, as the moments silence broke and the earth began to turn once again, a blast hit the air. A sonic boom sounded and every one of the circle was thrown backward as a rush of wind forced them down passing through and into everything beyond the circle's boundary. Only to come rushing back a moment later with all the force of a typhoon.

I hope it worked. Mara thought as her mind went dark and the world faded into black.


	2. Chapter 1 Visions of Blood and Fire

Chapter 1 Visions Of Fire and Blood

** Ten years ago.**

Sweltering summer air had turned the city into an oven. And the humidity kept your clothes sticking to you no matter what you did to prevent it. Between the heat, the smells that seemed baked into every surface, and the crime, was it any wonder that Jada Kai hated the city? She missed the caravan nestled in the hills of Northern Ireland far away from the constant buzz of New York life that her grandfather had owned before his death. Its cool, breezy afternoons beneath the shade of ancient trees and the deep, soothing, clear water of the stock pond had been the only thing, keeping her from going crazy for years. And this year she would have to do without the much needed respite. Work, she grumbled under her breath, ain't life grand?

The tar felt hot enough to melt the bottom of her shoes off as she walked through the streets. Jada Kai had been awake since dawn running errands and tonight she had to work late at the auction house. Gods, all she wanted to do was to sit down, prop her feet up, and have some tea with her mother before work. Nice, calming, herbal tea. Calming tea to sooth her frazzled nerves. Something was off today. Something big. Everyone and everything seemed to be on edge. Waiting and watching for something to happen.

Well, the big something would just have to wait. Old Mrs. Johanna needed help carrying her groceries up to her apartment. Why a seventy something year old woman had a third floor walk up and had what seemed like forty bags to carry up, she would never know. But she always had a cookie or maybe a brownie to spare. And the woman knew how to cook! Her death by chocolate brownie nearly stopped your heart, it was so good! Jada nearly groaned at the thought of the dessert as she walked toward the older woman.

"Kai!" The old woman called in greeting with a smile tugging at her lips. Her white hair was swept into a loose bun with a few wisps of hair framing her kind wrinkled face. "I don't mean to be a problem but could you help me carry my bags?" Her voice was breathy from the lugging the bags for as far as she did. The stoop was more than she could handle when forced to make ten trips just the get the bags that far.

"Of course," Kai said with a smile tossing her heavy black braid over her shoulder. "How did you get all of this here?"

"Taxi dear." Mrs. Johanna laughed.

Kai turned red as she realized her mind slip. "Sorry. I guess my mind is. . ." Her hand twisted off through the air into the distance showing exactly where her mind had gone.

Mrs. Johanna chuckled tapping Kai's shoulder as she bent to gather up bags. "I know the feeling." The older lady picked up one of the lighter bags only to have Kai pull it out of her hands and add it to the ones hanging on her arms. At least they were those nice reusable cloth bags that didn't dig into her arms like the plastic ones did. "Dear, I have a plate of brownies that I will never be able to eat on my own. Do you think your mother and you might like to eat some?" She winked playfully. "Otherwise they'll just go to waste, and well, that'll just be a shame. Won't it, Kai?"

"That it would," Kai laughed before following the older woman in the doors.

An hour later, Jada Kai staggered down the stairs, her bag from the Chinese herbal shop swinging gently on her forearm, and a plate of brownies in her hand, doing her best to walk upright while her sides split with laughter. "I'll see you later, Mrs. Johanna." She barely got out between guffaws. It never failed, that woman could put a smile on a statue's face.

The laughter was enough to make her not mind the dank stairway of the apartment building. It was enough to make her ignore the vomit in the corner from some drunk idiot's last bender. The graffiti didn't even seem so bad today. The smells of curry and hot oil wafted under an apartment door as she carefully picked her way over newspaper and other debris. The Rangarajan's were cooking up a feast by the smell of it. It may not be the cleanest building in this section of the city, but the people were kinder than you would expect. They were protective of their neighbors, and that was how Kai came to know them. She and her mother had just moved in, and Mrs. Johanna was the first to show any interest in them. After that, the other occupants wanted to be sure of them. That building cookout on the roof had been very. . .informative.

Kai placed her empty hand on the wall to steady herself and had to fight sinking to her knees. The vision was worse than normal. Normally a few deep breaths were enough to banish the pictures that played like a movie in her mind. This one felt like a punch to the solar plexus and a hang over, all rolled into one. Bones, death, fire, pain, and the feeling of nothingness prevailed. Her head throbbed with the flashes. Faces she had never seen, places she had never been to. The only things she recognized were the auction house where she worked at her mother's behest, its loading docks and the alley she took as a short cut. The smell of ashes and blood filled her sinuses. Heat from the fires that never seemed to die danced over her skin.

"Kai!" A male voice shouted to get her attention as its owner's hand shook her from the nightmare like premonition. "You alright chica?"

"I'm fine Miguel," Kai forced her mouth to say. "Just tired. Had a long couple of days, ya know?" She pulled in a hard breath, forcing the vision back.

The Spanish male laughed, he knew it all too well. "Still working doubles?" He like most people worked two jobs just to make ends meet and put food on the table for his family.

"Yeah," Kai nodded. "Hey, I don't think I can get down any of these brownies. I'll take one for mom but do you think Teresa and the kids would like the rest?" She needed to get out of here fast, and Miguel would never let her unless he thought she was okay. "Mrs. Johanna made them." If there was any doubt he would take them, it flew out of the window when he found that out. Kai took the decision out of his hands by plucking one off the piled plate and handing him the rest. "Here. Go get some sleep. You have work in six hours."

Miguel looked from the plate to Kai, concern etched into the lines on his face. "You sure you're okay?"

"Positive," Kai smiled brightly, even as her stomach rolled from the vision-caused headache. "All I need is some of mom's tea and I'll be just fine."

Miguel smiled and took the plate from her with a nod. "Thank your mother for that medicine she gave mi hija . I couldn't afford the doctor right now. I'll pay her for it when I can."

"Take your time. She's just happy Sonja is feeling better," Kai smiled and began walking down the stairs. Taking them much slower than normal but at least she was steady now. Mara would know what she should do about that vision, those faces. The red demon, the brunette with the fire that didn't burn her, the blue creature who was more at home in the water than on land, and the two pale faces, one female, with warm suns for eyes, and the male with the cold fury that surrounded him like an armor, to keep the world at a distance. Mara had to know. If she didn't, this day was not going to get any better.

Outside everything she touched brought on the vision until the only thing she could do was pull her sleeves over her hands. Each vision left her shaken and gasping for air. Skulls and blood, bones and flayed skin swirled about her mind as Kai stumbled toward her mother's store. Burning flesh, acrid and pungent was what she could taste in the air she breathed. With each step she heard the groan and snap of spinal column and scapula under her feet. Her skin felt covered in grime and bile. Tears left trails down her face as she felt the earth wailing beneath her. It was on its last breaths and screaming for its savior like a fair maiden from a romance tragedy begging for mercy.

It was by pure luck and instinct that she staggered into the warm haven of her mother's tiny basement store. "Mama!" She screeched as soon as the door closed behind her. The bell above the door tinkled mockingly against the pain in her soul.

Her mother's heart stopped when she heard Kai scream. Her office was insulated from sound, but she still heard her daughter. Kai never screamed, never yelled. Jada Kai valued silence, knowing it made sound so much sweeter. For her to make a sound above normal conversation levels, something was truly wrong. "Jada? What's wrong?" Mara asked bursting from behind the tapestry that hid her office door. "Chikni?" The girl on her knees, dry heaving into the carpet wasn't the girl who she had to shove out of bed this morning.

Mara sank to the floor and gathered her child into her arms, rocking slowly as the sobs shook the girl. "It's going to be alright sedre." Mara stroked Kai's dark hair. "Was it a vision?" Kai nodded as more tears fell. "What of?"

"Death." Kai breathed when the tears began drying.

"Who's death mo chroi?" Her mother asked, pain lancing through her heart at her child's anguish.

Jada Kai stiffened, turning to look at her mother and catching her vibrant green eyes with her own mirror image orbs. "Everyone's!" She screamed, rattling the bottles on the shelves.

Mara's face went white underneath her olive skin. Oh crap.

**Nine years and three hundred sixty three days later.**

Liz offered some of the last remaining food stores to Mara as the older warrior gypsy sat working kinks out of her shoulders. There wasn't much left but anyone willing to fight should at least have some food in their stomachs. Okay yes, that was the mother in her talking. She couldn't help it. "You sure this will work?" She asked.

Mara nodded her thanks for the food and motioned to the pile of rubble adjacent to the one she sat on. "No. And yes." She said cryptically, spooning a mouthful of creamed corn into her mouth, groaning in pleasure at having food again. She had been giving her portion to the younger witches in her company for the past week.

Liz wanted to laugh at the woman's reaction to the food. Never in her life had she thought corn that had consistency of lumpy glue and had just about the same taste, would have such a reception. "What do you mean?"

"Ask the questions you really want answered please," Mara smiled weakly. The years had changed much. At one time, she would have liked nothing other than to have a meal with this young mother, and maybe become her friend. But now? Now there was no time for caution and beating around the bush. Now, was the time for courage and taking a machete to that annoying shrub.

"Alright," Liz took a deep breath, switching to her fireball mode. The one that she used in battle. "So tell me. Why should this suicide run work? You're risking the last of my family, everyone I love. Why should we follow through with this?"

"Now there's a mother," Mara chuckled. Liz reminded her of a mother bear defending her cubs. Claws out and snarling. "Your children are very lucky to have you." Mara thought back to her own child and the day she came home screaming about this future. She hadn't believed then. Hadn't believed that her daughter had seen what she did. If only. . . "Jada was a seer, and a damn good empath. Someone had opened a portal to the day of the tooth fairy attack. She must have felt it." Mara stood and put the now empty plate back on her seat of rock. "Because she saw everything. Felt it." Mara still felt her child's pain even though years separated them. "Tasted it."

"My god..."

"And a few others." Mara agreed wryly. "I think it was the portal we hope to open that allowed her to get that vision." She walked to her overcoat and pulled out a bundle of papers from the inside. "She drew these right before she went to work." The papers were soft and discolored from the handling over the years. Some had edges burned, others were torn and the creases were split. But the care she took with them was obvious as she handed them over. "I think you'll recognize them. They were how I knew to find you."

The pictures were incredibly detailed renderings. Central on each page was a portrait of each person. One of Liz, including the small scar she got just last year right above her right eyebrow. She laughed softly at that. In a world of war she had gotten a dangerous scar from tripping, getting out of bed one morning. One of Abe, so detailed that it got the markings at the corner of his mouth and the pattern on his leathery skin. He was smiling. As much as Abe could smile anyway. There was one of Princess Nuala. It got her shy smile. Her light amber eyes glinted joyfully in the picture. As if nothing could go wrong.

And then Liz turned to the next likeness. It was her husband. He was grinning like a fool, holding their newborns next to his face. They were squalling their heads off and he still looked thrilled. Liz traced the likeness' jaw with her forefinger, happy tears filling her eyes. "God. I haven't cried for a good reason in...years."

"Keep going." Mara told the young firestarter.

Liz couldn't stop smiling as she looked at the drawling of her husband. But the smile faded as she turned the page. Prince Nuada's face glared out at her. His eyes glinted beneath his brows like golden fire from the paper. Anger and rage with a unhealthy dose of pain mixed in that nearly burnt her hands with its heat. "Well. . ." Liz began. "She got this one right."

"Haunting was what she called it."

Liz bit back a laugh. "Yeah. Not the word I was looking for." She turned to the next page and saw . The cave troll was pictured in all his gruesome beauty. Hair sprouted in every direction. His right tusk cut off close to his chin and his gaping maw were also pictured complete with jagged teeth. Carefully Liz put Mr. Wink's picture on the back of the pile, turning to the last three sheets. Professor Broom, Johann Kraus, and her kids were the figures in the last pages. "They're beautiful."

Mara handed her one last sheet. "This one isn't nearly as good as Jada Kai's drawings." It was carefully folded and had been kept safe from the wear and tear that years had placed on the others. "I'm not nearly the artist she was. But after her picture got destroyed. . ." She sighed, her shoulders hunching with the soul-deep weariness that she fought back day after day. "I needed something. She was all I had. I needed something to rant at and pretend somehow that she was listening. It helped. A little."

**Nine years and three hundred sixty three days earlier. **

Kai sipped at her tea, curled into a corner of the tiny worn love seat in her mother's office. She was still shaking but that too would subside with time. Mara came back with two little pills in her hand. Her jewelry clinked softly as she walked, filling the rooms with their soft tuneless music. It was a sound she would forever associate with her mother. "Here sedre." Kai pushed the hand that held the two pills away gently. "They're only kava kava child." Kai took them and stared at the capsules, as if they held something vile like slime. She really hated slime. "Take them."

"Like aspirin better." Kai said petulantly.

Mara laughed her entire body shaking. This was an age old battle. Kai had never taken aspirin in her life. But she had always objected to the natural remedy. It gave them something to argue about since almost nothing else did. They hadn't truly argued with any heat behind the words since Kai was five. "Kava works better."

Kai rolled her eyes, obviously feeling better. Enough to pick at her mother a little. "Fine. Then I have to get to work."

Mara jumped on that. "You aren't going anywhere." She sat next to Kai and poured her another cup of tea from the delicate china that sat on the coffee table before them. "Not in this condition. You're staying right here."

Kai sighed taking the pills with a swallow of the aromatic tea before carefully setting it back on the low table. "I have to go to work." She stood, granted a little unsteadily at first. Jada Kai held the arm of the loveseat with an unfaltering hand. "I can't let a bad headache and an upset stomach and a little, tiny," Her empty hand came up with her thumb and forefinger up showing barely a centimeter's worth of space apart. "Itsy bitsy vision stop me." She pulled strained in a breath and the shaking that hadn't disappeared yet, vanished into memory. "Besides someone has to make sure the crown piece is never sold."

Mara nodded her assent. It didn't matter if she approved or not though. If Jada didn't make sure the piece was safe, one of the Romani who worked in security for the auction house would make sure it simply disappeared. Vanishing before packing and shipping. And if they failed, someone in shipping would see that it was misplaced on the way to the postal carrier. "Just be safe, please?"

"Always am." Jada said picking up her purse from the floor and swinging it over her head to rest comfortably and safely across her chest. "Aren't you glad that I spent the summer training with the caravans?" She winked.

"I would have been if you learned potions and mixes like you should have. Becoming a proper witch instead of learning to fight with the boys." Mara replied nearly pouting. "But since we moved to the city I guess it comes in handy."

Kai chuckled softly. The training had come in very handy. Come what may, New York boys didn't hold a candle to the pick pockets, thieves, brawlers, and the occasional assassin who took refuge in the camps. Nope, nothing held up under that comparison. The ones who had seen real battles, real fights, they had come back to protect the caravans and train the next generation. She had counted one time. There were six different military styles represented and then the "private contractors." At least that was what they called themselves. Sometimes she felt pity for the person who tried to mug her, or lift something from her. You don't try to steal from a thief. And if that thief was raised in cultures in which if you get caught your hand came off when you got caught? Well that could be hazardous.

"Mama. Could you hang onto those sketches? I have a feeling they may be useful someday." She looked thoughtfully at the pile underneath her pencils. Sometimes it helped to draw the visions. It helped to make sense of them. The pale male with long hair and the haunting eyes was on top, staring it seemed at her. Kai stroked the harsh lines of his face, softening them. Making him seem as if, while still an angry face, it could smile at any moment. At least that was what she saw.

She left without another moment spent in contemplation, picking her way around the cramped little office. Careful not to knock the stacks of order catalogs off their precarious perch in the edge of the desk. Edging around the boxes of glass vials and the shelves filled with tinctures and extracts toward the heavy oak door and beneath the hand woven tapestry that had been in the family for more generations than she dared count.

**Nine years and three hundred sixty three days later**

"She didn't come home that night." Mara whispered as she told the story of the drawings to Liz. "I thought she just was too tired after work and stayed at a friend's house. It wouldn't have been the first time."

Their eyes were the same, Liz noted in the low light. So were their faces. It was like seeing a picture of the woman who was hugging herself less than six feet away. A picture that should have been thirty years old. But only it had been ten years since a pencil last touched these pages. "How did she die?" The older version stiffened at the question. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No." Mara said shaking her head. "You should know. Nothing was stolen which confused the police. They said the guards must have interrupted her mugging. But anyone who is around those who deal in death enough, knows when a knife is thrown and when it isn't," she laughed bitterly. "The Romani night watchman who Kai had learned her skill with a knife alongside told me the knife wasn't plunged in at close range. And I believe him. If she had the chance to fight her attacker, she wouldn't have been the one lying in a pool of her own blood."

"I'm sorry." Liz said, unsure of how else to comfort the older woman. Not even sure if she needed comfort. Feelings were so foreign in this barren world now. She looked over to her own children and thought about how she would feel if she lost one of them. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't picture a day without seeing their black hair and dark pink faces. Or those amber eyes. Or a night of not being hugged by three tails. A day without that just didn't seem right, not complete.

"Hopefully in two days you won't be saying that."

"Hopefully. Because if she's anything like what you say," Liz smiled wickedly, "I can't wait to meet her." She sounds like heaven and hell all in one and I like that.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1 translations<p>

Rangarajan = Hindi last name. No translation from me.

Chica (Spanish) = Girl

Mi hija (Spanish) = My Daughter

Chikni (Romani) = Daughter

Sedre (Romani) = Child

Mo Chroi (Irish Gaelic) = My heart

A/N: Hey! Hope you liked this chapter. If you did press the little button that says Review Chapter and let me know. And a big thank you to my lovely beta, **TheBlackPages**! An awesome writer who wrote **Too high a price**. Thank you for reading and hope to see your review.

Big thanks to MirixHoney for their review since I couldn't send my thanks to them personally the way I normally do.

Note on all elven speech used in this story:

I am still looking for the language. Because sad to say Tolkien didn't actually have much Elven speech in the books. And since the Fae are not really forthcoming with their language and culture most human knowledge is made up. It is the human mishmash that I am currently using. If you happen to know the real thing, let me know and then I'll start bugging you for translations. Other wise quiet please and just enjoy.I will try to stick to well documented languages such as Gaelic or Celtic for Elven whenever possible though, just to set your mind at ease.

Oh and for you crazy people who don't know, there is a difference between Irish Gaelic, Sottish Gaelic, and Celtic!


	3. Chapter 2 Teeth

AN: Again any religious views or cultural norms are not mine. I'm following the time honored tradition of fiction writers, I am writing opposite to my life and views.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters. Everything else belongs to someone else, drat it. I make no money. Don't sue.

Chapter 2 Teeth

Recap:

"Hopefully. Because if she's anything like what you say," Liz smiled wickedly, "I can't wait to meet her." She sounds like heaven and hell in one and I like that.

**Nine years and three hundred sixty three days earlier**

Kai walked down the street, her eyes on the ground, her thoughts turned inward as shadows fell and lengthened into night, unaware of what was coming. An unseasonably cold wind blew as the evening stars assumed their places in the sky. Jada Kai shivered as the wind bit into her bare arms. "Weird," she muttered going down the alley that she always took to work, taking her short cut. It went behind the building and the loading docks taking twenty minutes off the route she would have to take going around the block.

The clink of metal behind her sounded all too familiar as it drew her from the revelry the visions of the day had forced her into. Like the click of a folding blade knife as it opened and locked in place. Too long had she spent learning of blades for that sound to be unrecognized. Kai's eyes snapped to the left and right trying to see where the sound came from without giving her sudden awareness away to whoever was in the shadows. Fabric rustled but the follower never advanced, only hastening their steps as she picked up the pace.

Never had she been so happy to see the heavy gates of the Blackpool's loading docks and the men milling about. The steps faded and stopped as she entered the circle of lights cast by the bulbs on the perimeter fence. The guards all knew her and simply waved her through the sliding iron entrance.

As worried as she was by her earlier visions and then the person who decided to play stalker, Kai decided to be safe rather than sorry and pulled one of the security guards aside as she passed his station. "Something's up. Be careful tonight, Shandor. And as soon as the night shift begins and you're done tonight, leave. Go back to the camps. Call the Rom back to the caravans." She said, fighting to keep the distress that had drifted into her soul like a coming storm. "Promise me that you'll make sure they get home safely. Swear to me, Shandor."

He narrowed his dark eyes at her, seeing only dread the dread that clenched at her heart, but none of the laughing child that he grew up with. "Mandi amira, awenyddion." He purred in his quiet way, quickly going back to his post instead of asking the questions that her words incited. He was romani, and when the daughter of a well known and respected chovihani who just so happens to be an awenyddion herself tells you to be careful, you don't ask, you just do.

Kai went on her way through the loading dock yard only to stop as she reached the building. Something felt wrong. Something didn't belong. And dammit, the security lights didn't shine at the service entrance, only the fence, and that was a good fifty feet of darkness away. Not even the night guards bothered to look at the door where she stood as their shift began. "I just can't catch a break," she felt from the crown of her head to the souls of her feet.

She turned to the side and saw one of the faces she had drawn with her dark charcoals. Its deep lines and heavy shadows as well known as the contours of her own face. Jada Kai's eyes grew wide in amazement. Grey leather like skin covered a huge frame. One of his hands was made of metal, and although it was built for size and heavy work, she saw the artistry in its workmanship. Finally, her gaze shifted high enough that she took in the detail of his face. One tusk was missing half of its length. His teeth were jagged and stained. She had missed the staining in her rendering. If it let her go, she would have to fix that later. And why that thought came to her instead of the reasonable panic she had expected was also something to be addressed later. His expressive anger filled eyes where what glued her to the spot.

No sound came from her mouth the as sharp metal of a knife, no, it felt longer, dagger maybe, kissed the skin of her throat. The figure before her hadn't moved. But the one she hadn't seen at her back did. His voice was low, he was being careful not to get caught, but the near growl he used was still threatening when he spoke. "Is the crown piece here?"

Kai didn't answer quickly enough for the holder of the blade. She was getting really sick of sharp objects, she decided, as the blade was pressed tighter against her skin and she felt a small trickle of blood run down her neck to seep into the fabric of her black silk halter shirt. "Are you going to answer human? Or should I slit your throat now?" The voice asked. To be honest she was rather scared to. Alarmingly huge creature standing in front of her and a sharp pointy object at her throat. Knives, she could deal with, even swords and other weapons. But the thing in front of her that seemed as if it would be just as happy to crush her underneath its foot as it was to look at her, that was something entirely different.

"Mr. Wink." The beast before her straightened. That must be its name, she thought in wonder. Not the name I would have imagined. "Do you want to see if you can get anything out of her?" The beast stepped toward her until she could see nothing else but his hulking mass.

Wink was impressed by the small female. He didn't smell fear or terror or even the scent of her bladder expelling its contents as humans had the tendency to do upon seeing him, let alone being threatened by him. While her eyes grew large and she tried to look up at him, not easy to do he imagined with a knife at her throat and the prince's forearm holding her in place, she smelled of mild curiosity. How odd. . . How astonishing. . . How promising. Would the prince allow him to take her as a toy? He would like to see exactly how much a human could take before they begged for the end. He was willing to bet she would be rather stubborn.

The prince scowled behind her. She wasn't even shaking under his hand. Well this wasn't working. Maybe he should just dispatch her. It was obviously a waste of time trying to get anything from her.

Kai finally found her tongue as she swallowed, making the knife move slightly against the muscles of her neck. "That piece," she began, only to have her words cut off as the prince moved, inadvertently causing the steel to cut her deeper. Apparently he gave some sign to the creature because he retreated a step or two giving her the much needed space.

"Well?" She was going to talk just like the rest of her pathetic race, Nuada wanted to laugh at how easily she cracked even if she had shown some resistance a few moments ago. Maybe that had been fear. But no. Amongst her unnaturally clean and fresh smell, he detected no fear. Only the scent of spring rain, Rock-sea lavender and beach sage, and the Atlantic Ocean with all of its moods boiling just beneath the salty, surface waves.

The female pushed her neck backwards against his arm. Oh. She couldn't talk if she couldn't breathe. He spread his arms giving her room to drawl breath between the blade and himself. Besides, if he had to kill her to get that crown piece, so be it, but he didn't want to scratch the bracer on his arm.

Kai fought to hide the smirk that threatened to split apart her lips, schooling her expression into one of neutrality. "The Bethmoora crown piece," she began again, playing for time and the small distraction that getting the information he wanted would hopefully be.

Her small gamble paid off . Nuada's arms opened a fraction more, expecting to hear where the piece was being kept and everything he needed to get to it. After all, he had spent the evening hours of the last week looking for the person who had the most access to the piece. Now he was more than a little shocked that she knew of Bethmoora.

"Will be," she went on, watching as Mr. Wink moved back to his hiding place with the container that he had carelessly thrown over his shoulder. Now, she thought inching her hands toward Nuada's arm holding the knife. Her muscles tensed under his arms almost imperceptibly. Was he so concerned with the information that he wasn't paying attention to his informant? Or did he not consider her a possible threat? Why he didn't react to her movement didn't matter, she decided. Right now the only thing that mattered was that she was within a hairs breath of having leverage on his arms. "Safe guarded by," she sniffled dramatically and could almost feel the cocky grin on his face at her apparent weakness.

"Someone who knows what they're doing, idiot." She acted even quicker than she thought possible and stomped on his toes, grinding the heel of her steel toed boots into his foot, nearly breaking the tiny bones under her step. He dropped the knife in surprise at the pain and who had given it to him. And in that split second that he was startled, she took hold of his arm and pulled hard, yanking it and him over her shoulder to land flat on his back on the concrete slab beneath them. Even though he smacked his head hard, by the time she was inside the service entrance and shutting the door, he was there, knife in hand trying to pull the door away from her hands.

She was fast for a human, he'd give her that. And strong.

Jada braced her feet on either side of the door and prepared for a losing battle of tug of war. Until one of her teacher's voices sounded in her head. "If your opponent wants something, throw them off balance. Give it to them." She smiled wickedly, knowing that the door was solid steel and would hurt like hell if he was even close to being in the same position as she was. She let go and winced as the door rang like a gong, colliding with his skull. The steel actually shook as it impacted. He must have a really hard head, she mused, pulling the door shut with a slam and throwing the locks. They wouldn't hold if the creature with him really wanted in. But would anything?

Mr. Wink pulled the stunned prince back to his feet and further into the shadows. He'd had sustained worse, Wink decided. Nuada would come around in a moment. Wink let loose what must have been a quiet chuckle for him, his whole frame shaking with amusement at his friend's predicament. To be tricked, made a fool of, and beaten by a female human, all in the space of two minutes? It was very funny. And now Mr. Wink no longer wanted to harm her. Only congratulate her and see if she did something else funny. Exile was very long and boring without some form of entertainment.

**An hour later**

Jada Kai watched in horror as the pale male from her drawings released a squid like creature that attached itself to her boss' face, no doubt killing him. For death was all she read in the cold rage that hung around her attacker, it was like a cape as he talked. It was that voice that identified him as the person from the service entrance. She had called the guards, telling them of the encounter, hoping that he would still be there so that they could take care of handing him over to the cops. But he had been nowhere to be found. Now he stood like a death dealing angel ready to dispense his version of justice on the crowd.

Her heart nearly stopped as he said his name. Nuada Silverlance. Prince of Bethmoora. Oh crap. Kai knew the stories, had heard the tales of his thirst for blood and vengeance. She had heard the tales for years. Parents in the caravans put their children to sleep with the legends. He was the stuff of nightmares made real. Dear gods in heaven. Between him and Mr. Wink, no one was leaving here alive. Please guard our souls and lead us into your grace, Kai prayed fervently. She didn't bother asking for help. If she couldn't find a way out of this herself, there would be none.

The prince cast a glance up to the landing where she stood, and there, in his features, hidden behind the malice and disgust, she saw the almost smile that she detected in her sketch. But this one wasn't one of happiness. Here, now, it was one of sick satisfaction. As if every human here deserved the death that followed in his wake.

At his feet sat the box that cycled open as he talked. "Let this remind you why you once feared the dark," Nuada told the guests below, smoothly pulling the door of the box up, releasing the creatures within.

Run! Screamed a voice within Kai's mind, sending adrenaline burning through her veins like jet fuel. She backed away from the rail, watching in revolting fascination as people were being consumed. Her back met with a solid wall of muscle that she didn't even realize had moved from the floor below. "Don't you wish I had ended your life earlier little human? It would have been a kinder end than this."

The vault door was still open from the last payment record she had put there before the prince appeared and distracted her from shutting it. If she ran, she might be able to make it before the locust-like creatures realized she was even up here. "Oh don't leave the party just yet, little one," Nuada chuckled, almost seeing the gears turning in her head like a well oiled machine. "After all, I have a present for you."

Jada Kai twisted away from the arm that he had wrapped around her waist without her noticing. A thought she couldn't consider struggling in her thoughts like a bird about to fly. She faced him and began backing toward the vault door.

"Don't you want it?" Nuada asked, enjoying his twisted game, becoming slowly riled that she still wasn't showing fear. He could smell the adrenaline in her system, but not the terror he expected like from the ones below. "And here I had it wrapped just for you," he sneered.

Her back hit the corner of the vault door just as the screams from below died down. There was no one left alive to scream any longer. Kai didn't dare take her eyes off the prince though. And as he withdrew an arm from behind his back, she understood why. Within his palm was a snarling, snapping, and more importantly starving, tooth fairy. Nuada chuckled darkly as the voracious fairy lifted off his palm and flew at her. Kai's eyes flashed panic for less than a second before she flew into motion, the fairy inches from her nose. "Sorry." She caught the fairy around its waist and wings. "But I don't taste good."

Nuada's own face dissolved into one of shock, his head tilting to the side in wonder. She wasn't screaming like the others. How odd. The fairies wouldn't attack him, they were under orders, so he had a reason not to panic. But her? Humans were afraid of what they didn't understand. So why wasn't she? Was she that stupid? Or just that brave? Why wasn't she screaming? She hadn't dissolved into hysterics outside either. She acted with sharp decisiveness. And reflexes that seemed too fast for a human. There was something off about her, and it annoyed him to no end that he couldn't figure it out.

She snapped him out of the deep thoughts that plagued him when she threw the little fairy at him and slid inside the vault, closing the door behind her with a slam. And the wheel spun shut locking it in place. "Smart aidor." It was time to go, he decided looking at the vault, wondering if he should open it and let the fairies do their work. But she had to come out sometime. They would take care of her then and he had other things to attend to. Like getting the next crown piece.

**Three and a half hours later.**

The soft scrape of teeth had died down over the last hours. But the vault not being designed to be sound proof, Kai still heard the sounds of feeding outside. It was slowly driving her insane. She could feel the scrape of their teeth on her skin, the constant gnawing on her bones. It never stopped. Not once did the pain end. The anguish that didn't cease, her heart wouldn't let it. It still beat strongly within her chest, not even pausing its steady rhythm. Only her worry for her friends kept her sane. She hoped they had gotten out, hoped that the warning she had given them earlier was in time, prayed that Shandor kept his promise and gotten the others to safety.

At least she wasn't afraid of the dark. Otherwise she would be well and truly terrified, as well as losing her sanity. Not even her phone worked in the pre-World War One style vault, so she couldn't even call for help. Getting out of here with those things out there would be fun. Well, now or never, she thought wryly, creeping to the door. Jada Kai pressed her ear to the cool metal, listening for the slightest movement outside. And heard something weird. Footsteps. No one had survived, she had seen it with her own eyes, so who was walking around? Had her mind finally left her? No, she decided, there was the noise of steps again. Too loud and solid to be the swarming creatures. Not soft and creeping like the prince and he had no reason to return. But not heavy enough for Mr. Wink.

She turned the wheel on the inside of the door to retract the locking pins slowly, thankful that maintenance oiled them once a week as they didn't scrape letting the tiny creatures know she was still there. The steps drew nearer. Hide! The voice in her head screamed. Something was seriously wrong. She could feel the unending hunger of the creatures from before. Clawing and scraping within her gut. Kai pulled herself into the corner of the safe to the left of the door as it swung open.

A man stuck his head inside the open door and looked to the other side. But just as she breathed a sigh of relief, he spoke into the communicator telling his team that no one was there. And for a reason she didn't understand, she stayed silent. Wait, the voice told her calmly. You can't leave yet and there's nothing you can do for them. Kai had learned a long time ago to listen to that voice. She moved to the door all the same. Peaking around the edge, her mind erupted in fire, screaming of thousands of tiny voices echoed within the recesses of her skull. She stepped back with a gasp as the scene in her head began to play out before her eyes.

"Up to the safe! Now!" Someone yelled.

"Abe! Up the stairs!" A woman ordered.

"Come on Liz. Burn 'em all!" Another male said. Gun fire cracked from every corner of the room outside, reverberating within Kai's skull. Each shot that hit its target, she felt the burning explosion within herself, nearly paralyzing her in pain as she slid to the floor and curled into a ball, their minds so unfamiliar she couldn't block out their cries. Visions of future, now in the present, and the future yet to be had blurred into one as deluge of sensations swept through her.

More shots and then a figure pulled himself into the vault and began pulling on the door. The little monsters were not allowing him to shut it. Kai felt the pain of the scrapes on his body and the panic that flooded him. But still, she couldn't move to help. Some of those things began nibbling at her exposed arms and legs.

Then true fire and heat blasted the door outside, slamming it shut with a resounding clang, knocking the male to the floor and sending bits and pieces of the tiny creatures floating through the air as they burned. And that was all she felt, as she fainted from the feeling overload a moment later.

**East side Railyards midnight. One hour and twenty minutes later.**

Nuala sensed her bother the moment he entered the antechamber. His determination hadn't dulled over the centuries. Neither had the blade he was holding at the chamberlain's throat. The older creature was nearly shaking under the prince's glare, she could feel it all the way from her rooms. Her brother's anger and disgust were palpable as she entered the doorway and gazed at him. Taking in what the years had done to her twin, and at one time, best friend. No, he wasn't the same elf she had known in the years gone by, the one to whom she could tell anything, the one who would indulge her slightest whim. Dear brother, what has happened to you? She asked within her soul, no longer able to feel anything but the hard male he had become. None of the kindness that had once ruled him, his actions, and thinking remained. No chink in the mental armor he hid his heart and mind behind had stood the test of time.

Without knowing where she found the words, she asked for his sword. And was surprised when he turned to her, holding it out in his hands with a slight bow of his head. "For you, sister?" He had said. "Anything." Was that really true anymore? Her heart ached knowing why he was here. It was the same reason he left. But now she realized, leaving wasn't the end of this. The boy she knew was gone. And her soul wept tears of blood for him.

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters**

"Hey sleepy head," someone said off to the right. At least Kai thought it was the right. If the room would stop spinning, maybe she would know for sure. "You can sit up if you like. Just go slow." She blinked against the bright clinical light, raising a hand to shade her eyes.

"Got a pair of sunglasses anywhere?" She asked whoever was in the room with her, pulling herself away from the itchy fabric beneath her. Too quickly, she decided as a wave of nausea washed over her. So this wasn't heaven. "Where am I?" She was on what felt like a hospital bed. Was this a hospital? She wondered. No, Kai decided just as quickly. No nurses in squeaky tennis shoes. They wore what sounded like boots, even dress shoes. Then this room didn't smell like cleaning solution either. It was freezing though. Goose bumps erupted over her arms, and her teeth vibrated from the cold.

"You're at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense Headquarters," the person said handing her a glass of water and some aspirin.

Jada Kai nodded her thanks and downed the water quickly, trying not to spill it as shudders coursed through her muscles, before dropping the aspirin in the empty glass. The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, she considered, while setting the glass on the bed beside her thigh. Where had she heard of that name before? It sounded too familiar. Her brain felt too fuzzy to figure it out though. It always took a while after she fainted to sort her mind out again after she woke up from passing out. "I think I've heard of this place before."

"Really?" Kai tried to open her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. "Not many people know we exist." The owner of the voice took the glass from her. "Didn't take the aspirin," it remarked. "You're not in pain?"

"Feel like I've been hit by a truck," Kai admitted. "But I can't stand chemicals. They make everything," she paused looking for a word, and not finding it as quickly as she would like seemed to prove her point. "Fuzzier," she gestured, building imaginary clouds with her hands. "Kind of clouded, I guess." Her stomach calmed slightly with the water. "How long was I out?" Please say only a couple hours. She wanted to beg. If she was out for much longer then Mara would kill her for not calling.

"Only about an hour." The voice moved closer and she felt fingers gently pulling her chin up. "Well maybe two. Traffic from Manhattan was about an hour. So yeah two. Can you open your eyes for me?" Kai barely opened them at all before what sounded like a male laughed. "Little wider," he told her. "Good." His voice was as soft as his face looked. Round and pudgy as if he never went through adolescence. "You must have taken a pretty good knock to the head. The team didn't even know you were there." He shoved a pen light into her eyes looking at their reaction, giving her a headache in the process. "Doesn't look like there is damage though," he chuckled softly to himself. "Well, other than the bites."

She may as well have been in a coma for all the talking he let her do. "Speaking of which how did you survive?" Kai opened her mouth, to answer but he went on talking. "I mean everyone else died. We couldn't even find their bones. So everyone's wondering how you are still alive. Open your mouth and say ahhh please." She complied and he looked down her throat. Normally she would like a nice dinner and a bottle of Sangria before she was prodded and poked that much. "By the way what is your name? Everything burned in the building, so whatever identification was in there is now ash and we couldn't get your name from your cell phone."

How did this man keep talking, she wondered, as he didn't seem to ever take a breath? He straightened out her arm and wrapped a rubber tube around her bicep. "Wow. You must work out a lot. Okay, I'm going to take a small blood sample, just to make sure you weren't exposed to anything." She didn't even feel the pinch of the needle as it slid into her dermis. "The others came back clean, so you should be fine. It's only a precaution anyway. Oh, by the way, I guess I should introduce myself." He pulled a thermometer out of his pocket and turned it on, as the small tube attached to the a tiny needle in her arm filled with blood. After sliding a sterile cover on it, he stuck it under her tongue and went back to the blood.

"I'm Dr. Markum. I run the med lab. Or at least the human side of the med lab. Abe runs the not-so-human side most of the time. Oops." He stopped suddenly, realizing he was revealing a government secret to someone who wasn't read in yet. "I guess I shouldn't have told you that. Not that it really matters. Not after what you've seen tonight. Besides, the team wants to see what you know about what happened after you're up and around." He left up a finger about a foot away from her face. "Okay, follow my finger with your eyes please. By the way, I still haven't caught your name."

"Jada Kai Gry," she got out finally as he paused. "Most of the time I go by Kai."

"That's pretty," he said, not really listening as he added to the notes he was compiling. Clean was the first thought that popped into her mind. Every surface was so bright and shiny that she had no doubt you could eat off the floor if you wanted. All stainless steel and white. White curtains were stretched on metal frame dividers to give her some privacy. She heard Dr. Markum looking through cabinets, opening and shutting the door with a muted thud.

With a sudden thought, she looked down and yelped. Her clothes were gone. Granted, in their place was a perfectly respectable hospital gown but it was the idea of not having clothes that made her color with embarrassment."Uh Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Where are my clothes?" It's not that she was a prude who would faint at the idea of someone else undressing her, particularly when that someone was a medical professional. But she also knew that hospital gowns gaped in the back. Laying down, that wasn't a problem. Walking around was a different story altogether.

"Clothes?" He mused, as if the subject was completely foreign to him. "Well they were destroyed. Lots of little teeth, you see."

He walked around to the other side of the screen, completely forgetting she was there until he had some use for her again. "So what am I supposed to wear?" Kai pressed the subject anew.

"Wear?" This was beginning to get annoying. "Oh. I remember. One of the female agents who is your size brought down some clothes. They should be on the chair in the far corner along with your phone and knives." He had never seen a person carry that many weapons under what had been high quality business attire. "Why a person needs so many knives, I'll never know."

"Habit from childhood doc," Kai replied with a chuckle, running a finger over one of her favorite's edge. "Besides, they come in very handy." It didn't need sharpening yet, but she was slightly edgy, sharpening blades would calm her down. Wonder where I could find a sharpening stone around here? She chewed on her bottom lip looking around for a ceramic edge or even a nail file would work to file the edges down to their hair splitting edge. Nope, none here, not even a soft cloth to clean them with, and they were covered in gunk, she pouted. And she really didn't want to know what the gunk was.

"Any good with them?" He had learned in his years working with the government that most conversations started out with that. Although it had always seemed rather foolish, like two dung beetles arguing over who stank less.

"Decent," she replied shortly. The clothes seemed to be a mix of leather dominatrix clothes. Someone was either very repressed or had a very interesting personal life. But at least her boots had survived, and Kai thanked whatever god was listening at the moment for that, before finally finding underwear at the bottom of the pile. Repression, that had to be it. Gods, does that agent never get out on a date? Kai wondered looking at the pristine underwear. Granted, she was pleased that they were clean. But granny panties? She must have no life, and really wanted one.

Jada slid a pair of snug leather pants up her toned legs, leaving the underwear on the plastic chair. "You said someone wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes," he muttered. "They should be meeting Agent Krauss right now."

**East Side Railyards. Council Chambers.**

_"Father." _Prince Nuada knelt in the chamber on the floor that was covered in golden leaves. His hand was resting on the top of his sword sheath, unused to how light it felt while empty.

_"Why?" _King Balor asked his impetuous son. His tone was so weary and disappointed, that the joy that leaped to his heart at seeing his lost son was eclipsed by it. Knowing what his first born had done in his thirst for vengeance torn at his heart, grief and disappointment flowing within his veins. May Morrigan watch over the fallen souls and give them peace. _"Why have you done this? Why?" _

Nuada stood and returned the look of disappointment. "To set us free. All of us father." Ten guards stood at attention, watching his every move. How much did he long for better days, when he wouldn't have greeted his father as a stranger greets their king but as a son. Days when after a long absence he could count on the joyful, loving, warmth of his homecoming. This was what the humans took from him that he missed the most. Love.

_"You have broken an ancient truce between our people and mankind." _His father told him. Still sitting in his throne.

"A truce based on shame." How can you not see that Father? He wanted to say. But didn't. Many years ago he would have. But this was neither the time or the place for losing face before the council elders that watched on from their places. If he was to succeed here it would be with words, not the angry outbursts of a child. "The humans. The humans have forgotten the gods, destroyed the earth. And for what?" He turned on his heel to the real audience. "Parking lots. Shopping malls. Greed has burned a hole in their hearts that will never be filled." He spun back to his father. "They will never have enough!"

_"What humans do is in their nature, to honor the truce is in ours." _His father argued, his beard shaking slightly in his fervor.

"Honor?" Nuada asked. "Where is the honor in it?" The council murmured their approval behind him. They had had enough of the squalor they had been forced to live in. Perhaps it was time for a change, they said. Thousands of years of peace had made them forget at what cost peace was attained. "Father, you were once a proud warrior. When did you become their pet?" He spat, the words leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

His father turned away refusing to look as he lost ground in the council's opinion. So many lives had been lost over the years for the sake of the peace he worked to achieve and maintain. No one knew that burden better than he. If his son was to start another war, he would have no part in it. No cause was worth more loss on either side. It had always been his hope that Nuada would find the middle ground. A way to win his cause without the cost of other's blood staining his hands. Now it seemed, that was not to be.

"I have returned from exile to wage war and reclaim our land, our birth right." Nuada addressed the council, feeling the scales tip slightly more in his own favor. "And for that I will call upon the help of all of my people. And they will answer. The good. The bad. And the worst." He turned back to his father holding the crown piece high.

King Balor nearly jumped out of his skin, his hand coming to rest on the piece of crown at his waist. _"The golden army! You cannot be that mad!" _He turned as pale as bone, bleached by the summer sun.

"Perhaps I am." Nuada replied studying the bit of golden links in his hand as the council's uproar ebbed. "Perhaps they made me so."

_"Awaken the army,"_ The princess interrupted calmly, _"but our green fields cannot grow out of all that blood." _Her own hand covered the crown piece in her belt as her brother turned toward where she stood at Mr. Wink's side. _"Let the army sleep,"_ she pleaded in her own quiet way. _"If our days have ended, let us all fade."_

"We will not fade." Nuada said. Why can you not take my side for once sister? He wanted to plead. And he would have at one time. But those years had long since passed. No longer was he driven by the need for their approval. No longer would he attempt to halt the sun's passage across the skies to please his sister. Betrayal and the pain it had caused were now old friends.

_"For the last time, my son, I ask you is this the path you wish to take?"_

"It is." Nuada replied knowing before the next words were spoken what his father would say. "I'm sorry, father."

_"Then you leave me no choice." _He sighed, the pain of this decision like a knife to the heart, breaking what little was left whole after the murder of his beloved wife. _"Death!" _He ordered, his crow guards moving to block the path to their king before the word had left his mouth completely.

"And you, sister?" Nuada asked, inclining his head in her direction. "Are you at peace with your king's verdict?"

"I am, my brother. I am."

"Then very well." What little hope he had of ending this without more death lay gasping at his feet for breath. "Death it is."

Translation

Shandor = Male Romani first name

Mandi amira (Romani) = (literally) my oath or my promise (Not so literally.)

Chovihani (Romani) = Witch (In this case its not quite true. The chant in the beginning is a prayer, not a spell.)

Awenyddion (Romani) = Seer

Aidor (Elven)= idiot

Morrigan (Celtic) = Goddess of the Death


	4. Chapter 3 Of Blood and Markets

**If you haven't seen the clues yet, there are hints in every chapter about the Romani/Gypsies, Kai's past, and her parentage that you will need to understand the last chapter and epilogue. So please keep an eye out for them. I started them in the prologue but so far no one has actually questioned be about them until my lovely and incredibly intelligent beta (She was the first one who picked up on anything after all.), The Black Pages, said hey wait a second do you know what you're implying by using this phrase? (It's in the next chapter so I can't tell you what it is.) And I said yes I do and I meant to. And I listed the clues I had left so far. But any way, if you can't find them don't worry too much. I'll try and make sure that the last chapters explain it all again. **

**On another note. I'm apologizing in advance if it takes me a while longer than my normal weekly update to post. I'm training to be a Scuba Diver and I'm a little low on time. **

**Now on with the show. And please don't forget to review.**

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><p>Chapter 3 Of Blood and Markets<p>

Recap:

"Then very well." What little hope he had of ending this without more death lay gasping at his feet for breath. "Death it is."

**B.P.R.D Headquarters**

"I understand you witnessed everything that occurred," the German mechanical man asked, after introductions were made. "Would you tell us what happened?"

Kai's head hurt with all the emotion swirling around the room, each hammering on her skull like a drummer at a rock concert. It ran the gamut from fascination, to self-doubt, to worry and someone was nervous. It didn't take a genius to figure out that came from the bald one named Manning. Apparently, anything dealing with the tooth fairies made him nervous. It seems they were to have a chat with one that was already dead. Go figure. The explanation of how that would happen just made her head hurt worse if she tried to make sense of it again, so she forced it from her thoughts. Dead was, dead right?

"Is there the slightest possibility of all of you calming your emotions? It feels as if you're driving a knife into my skull,"she groaned, holding her head between her hands. Their faces were priceless in the seconds after she made her discomfort known. But at least they were all on the same page now. Astonishment. She could deal with that feeling, it was quiet. "Thank you." They were all faces from her drawings. Each and every one matched in almost every point. A few scars weren't there but that made little difference. She had been right. The sketches did come in handy, they were where she recognized them from, and how she knew that they could be trusted.

The one who had been introduced as Abe was the first to talk as he took a chair at her side. "You are an Empath," he said, a smile clearly evident in his voice, even if his face didn't show it. "I've never met one. I am a Telepath." He held up a webbed hand and watched as she didn't shy away from it. "May I see your hand?"

"And apparently had the ability of psychometry," Abe's mouth dropped open as Kai tapped her forehead. "There's a lot up there. Sure you're ready to explore?" Kai pressed her palm against the cool, slightly damp skin of the blue-green, fish man and felt his calm mind reach into hers. "See anything interesting up there?" She asked, showing him the evening's events from beginning to end.

He gasped toward the end of her memory and withdrew his hand. "How is it you're still alive?" If Abe could have paled he would have. Through her mind's eye he saw and felt what she did. A muted, softer version, but she didn't spare him the sensations. Or the pain. "You felt everything."

Liz, knowing her friend better than both Manning and Agent Krauss, caught what he meant before they had even begun to comprehend. "Do you mean...?" She trailed off, unable to give the words their voice as they lodged within her throat. "She felt...every..."

"Every bullet," Abe answered her. "Every burn. Every crushed body." He swallowed. "Every bite on Red and myself. Before and during. Every pain in thousands of minds." That strong a gift would drive him out of his mind, he was positive. Her talent was limitless and made the version he had feel like a carousel next to a roller coaster that was careening off its tracks and warp speed. Not many things scared him at this point in his life, he pondered, looking at the woman who hadn't been reduced to a shell of a human, driven mad by her curse, but that awe inspiring hurricane of power terrified him.

"Thank you," Kai said. It wasn't often a person could actually grasp even the slightest thread of understanding, let alone care about how it affected you, but these people did. And if her vision from the previous hours never came about, she hoped they could be friends. It was a silly desire, of course, but hey, she could hope, right? Hope kept you sane, it kept you centered when life tossed waves of persecution and hatred at you, pushing you under their weight until you wondered if you would ever see daylight again. If there was a way she could pay them back for that one moment, no matter what it took, she would repay the debt of those few seconds that someone else helped shoulder the burden she carried.

Liz took the seat on Kai's other side in a moment of compassion that came from deep within her from a place she didn't understand. It was the same place that first cared for Red all those years ago. And she thought of her own child and the days she would have with it after its birth. She couldn't bare the though of it ever being in that pain. Did that mean she was ready to be a mother, Liz asked herself taking the empath's hand in her own, rubbing soothing circles within her palm. "What do you mean before and during?"

"He means," Kai answered, as it seemed Abe couldn't find the words. "That I'm a seer as well as an empath, like Abe is a telepath with minor empathetic abilities and the psychometry thing." She turned to look into the Liz's dark eyes and saw the warmth that infused the woman's soul, not just the ability the gods had given her, not just her impending motherhood, but the fire that danced in every fiber of her being lighting her up from the inside of her caring heart. "I can feel something before it happens as well as while it happens." Liz's eyes filled with tears that she didn't want anyone else to see, so Kai provided distraction, knowing the reason for her hormone induced tears wasn't public knowledge yet.

"You," she growled, switching from her normal warm and happy nature to anger in less time than a blink of her nearly neon green eyes, turning to Hellboy. "Did you have to use such a big statue!" Granted they didn't know she wasn't really angry, but it was funny to see him trying to look ashamed of the action when he was clearly proud of being the hero. Even if it was Liz who saved the day. "Do you have any idea how it feels to have every bone in your body crushed over and over? Do you?" Okay, so maybe she was a little angry. It hurt! At least the burning was an almost instant death.

"Uh, sorry?" Hellboy said, unsure of how to deal with any other angry woman except Liz and face it, he didn't even know how to smooth things over with her. It wasn't like a lot of people yelled at him though, and no, Manning didn't count.

Kai rolled her eyes, he was like Shandor, before... before the mantle of leadership fell to his shoulders. And she hoped that Hellboy would have an easier time leading, both as a father and as a leader of his little band, when the time came. "Is there a possibility of tea?" She directed at the one called Manning. It wasn't like he had any input anyway. "Chamomile would be a great help."

He looked as if about to argue that he was not the butler until Agent Krauss coughed. And considering the man was incorporeal, having no need to cough therefore, his point was obvious. "Would you like anything else?"

Kai smiled. "A little honey in the tea would be a gods sent gift. Thank you."

As soon as he left the room Hellboy and Agent Krauss took the last two of the tacky plastic chairs around the lunch table. It seemed they hadn't wanted her to feel like a prisoner by putting her in an interrogation room and the cafeteria was the only other place they could think of to place her. At least there was no one else there other than these four to pollute the aura of the room with their emotions.

Red looked incredibly uncomfortable on the small chair, Kai thought with a smirk. Like he was worried that at any point, it could give way under him. Which, she decided was a distinct possibility, as the chair groaned threateningly under his mass. Leave it to the government to skimp on things like decent furniture.

"So Agent Krauss," Kai asked when they were finally settled, wrenching her own thoughts back to the reason they were enduring groaning chairs and the smell of last week's chili and rice special. "What is it you want to know?"

**East Side Railyards. Council Chambers.**

The sound of a sword cleaving the air in two was all the warning Nuada received of the attack. Ducking under the Crow Guard's arm he spun back toward the second. Nuada's hand blocked the second sentry's weapon hand before his second impacted on the man's neck, crushing his windpipe while forcing him to the ground and dislocating his shoulder with a snap.

Nuada removed the sentinel's second, much lighter and shorter sword from the sheath on his back. Nuada turned back to the double line of guards about to take them on, a cold fury coursing in his veins.

Behind him, Mr. Wink threw his mechanical hand catching a Crow Sentry's head and yanking him backwards taking him permanently out of commission with that one snap. His head was now no longer attached to his spinal column. A solider from outside heard the commotion and came running only to be impaled on the spike attached to Wink's metal elbow.

The sound of metal striking stone signaled the beginning of chaos. Elsewhere, miles away a sense of foreboding invaded a soul as she felt the beginning of an end.

Nuada ran into the fray pushing one blow off course with the flat of his blade, he turned the tide of defeat with a skill that came from a thousand years worth of time spent in practice. This was no duel with rules to be governed by. This was snatching life from the jaws of death and facing mortality at the hands of those he had personally trained. Only now would they see if the students had surpassed their master.

Within moments, all but the two guards closest to his father were dead or dying. Two by decapitation, six by slices to the abdomen that spilled their organs to the floor. Only one had showed any promise in this battle by making Nuada's nose bleed, speedily taking the shot when he had it, and now he lay down on the floor with his brother-in-arms, his blood seeping into the leaf strewn, cobble stone ground. Fluid pounded in his ears as Nuada fought to catch his breath, looking down at the corpse strewn floor. How had things gone this far?

Gold dripped from Nuada's nose, catching his attention. He touched the stream of ichor, the flow already stemming within his nostril. Close. But not enough. He looked to Nuala, who's own nose bled realizing the bond they shared had not weakened with the passage of time. That his own death would bring hers as well. What kind of father would sentence a child to death knowing it would kill the other as well? What kind of monster? He wondered, wiping the blood from his ashen face. Nuala didn't deserve that. She was the innocent child who never, not once disobeyed, who agreed with their father, supported him through everything. And still, in order to maintain the treaty, Balor would kill her. Was peace worth that?

Nuala stared at her brother, stunned by the flow of thoughts pouring off him and made her own decision in the same moment he did. If he won, she was the last person standing between him and the golden army. She would uphold the peace come what may, even if it meant her own life.

Nuada turned to the last sentries, ready to end this fight, as the blades danced in his hands. His father stood from the chair, his regal robes unfolding to kiss the floor, a smile of pride on his lips knowing what was coming, waiting for the end.

The combatants advanced toward each other. And with one slice, their battle was over. The Guards had aimed high and Nuada slid unscathed between them, cutting deep into their torsos before reaching the stairs and plunging the cold metal into his father's stomach. King Balor fell back against his throne with a muffled thud as his son fought back stunned tears of grief when he looked at the hand that had ended his father's life.

_"I always loved you, Father,"_ he murmured, touching the dead king's face softly, allowing himself that one moment to grieve, still holding in his emotions with a grip of hardened steel, only making their presence known in the younger royal's sadness roughened voice, as his father's body turned to carved alabaster, to remain that way until the earth gave way beneath him. Leaves continued to fall like golden tears throughout the chamber, mourning the fallen king along with their prince and his people.

That moment passed as quickly as it came. And soon the crown piece was connected to its mate, awaiting the next and final addition.

"Now," Nuada began. "Now for the final piece my sister." He turned back to where she had stood, only to find Nuala had vanished like morning dew under a hot sun. Only Wink stood at the end of the chamber, nervously shifting from side to side. "Where is she, Wink?" Nuada yelled, striding across the body strewn floor, blood coating the bottom of his shoes. "Where is she!"

Nuala ran through the halls and passageways of the outer chambers, sobs sapping her breath as determination carried her along. "Find her!" She heard her brother's voice echoing from the place where he slaughtered their father. He showed in that one act that he was beyond redemption. "Now!" Nuala removed the piece from her belt and looked at it, knowing that it must be hidden somewhere safe. Where? She wasn't sure yet, but she understood the burden that was now placed squarely on her own shoulders. And she prayed that she was strong enough to carry it. "Find her!"

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters**

** Five minutes ago.**

"I'm not quite sure you should be going, miss Gry," Manning said trying for the fifth time in as many minutes to get Kai to go home instead of accompany the team to the troll market. They had offered to take her home and in a way she was going straight there. Only she would be down the street instead of sitting in her apartment overlooking the east end of the Brooklyn Bridge. The majestic bridge's great spans of late nineteenth century engineering genius would still be there when tomorrow's sun rose in the hazy grey sky.

"And yet, I am," Kai said with an air of finality, carefully aiding the agents moving wooden boxes into the garbage truck that would transport them to her home borough. "Look. I know you may not agree but you don't have a choice. You can shove me out at my building and I'd still be at the market before you." He opened his mouth to tell her that he could have her arrested for obstructing justice, but she cut him to the quick. Sometimes it helped being a seer. "I'd like to see you make that stick in court. And that's if you can keep me in a cell, let alone actually put me there."

"The truth is I'm not an Agent." Manning nodded agreeing with her, not realizing he wasn't going to like her point. "I'm a civilian. Which means you can't order me not to go. I also don't play by the rules, which means I can get into places you can't and I can ask questions you can't, because anyone with a brain would know I'm not a fed. I know that area of Brooklyn better than anyone here, which means I'm an asset that you need at the moment. You may not like it, but you need me. Now I can sit and argue the point with you, or we can get the job done."

She sighed, pulling on the flowing robes that the female agent had dug out of her closet along with the clothes Kai had changed into. Should never do that to leather, she grumble silently, her lips mouthing the words as she talked to herself. No matter what you did, the smell would never come out. The leather of her shirt smelled like dust and mold. It could be worse, she supposed. At least she could move in the pants, the agent must have worn them enough to break them in. The shirt didn't cover as much as she would have liked, but she'd just have to live with it, everything else had been riddled with moth holes and falling apart. At least this would stay put unless one of the laces snapped. Hopefully the bisht would cover it. It did, after all, cover everything from her neck to the floor.

Liz laughed seeing Kai pull the cream colored bisht and niqab into place over the blood red and black leather it was supposed to conceal. "You look ridiculous." She barely got out climbing into her seat beside Red.

"I'm comfortable and armed to the teeth, that's all that matters." She pulled the robe open to one side, showing that she had finally found places for her many knives and even added a short sword or two. "I was nearly killed at my last encounter with the prince."

"All the more reason you shouldn't go," Manning groused, taking his seat.

Kai rolled her eyes behind the niqab, and since it was the only thing you could see of her once the robe was closed and her hands were safely tucked away, her opinion of him was very apparent. "And since I have no intention of dying just yet, I'm going to blend in, watch the boy's backs, and do what needs to be done. Besides," she said, grinning beneath the cotton, while jumping agilely into the truck and taking her own seat. "You never know when having extra clothes will come in handy."

"Why do I have the feeling I'm missing something?" Liz asked tiredly, snuggling into Hellboy, who obligingly wrapped an arm around her. She fell asleep almost as soon as the truck began moving, thankfully missing the detailed conversation between Abe and Agent Krauss that took every minute of the hour and a half drive and made Kai break out a deck of cards to play poker with Agent Manning. He lost everything. What part of seer didn't he understand?

**East end of the Brooklyn Bridge Location of The Troll Market**

"Hey!" A man called to Hellboy as he was walking past. "You're Hellboy?"

Hellboy turned toward him, a huge smile of his face always ready to meet a fan. "Yeah!"

The man laughed. "You're ugly man!" He said pulling Kai's attention from staring at the crowd that had noticed their appearance and grown in numbers in the few minutes since they had gotten to the scene. His friend tossed the beer can he had been drinking from at HB's feet, crushing the hope that maybe people would be able to see them as something other than freaks, or at least him, with that one thoughtless act.

Kai waited until the man had rounded the corner before sneaking off to make sure he never populated the earth with more of his idiot breed, and then snuck back before anyone realized she was gone.

Apparently quite a lot had gone on in the few moments she was gone because HB seemed to be threatening a troll with a canary. "Not the canary!" The troll's voice carried down to the street. Although how he was intimidating, wearing those silly lenses and carrying a tiny yellow bird in a cage, she would never understand. But it must have been working, because at the end of this paper strewn alley the troll, disguised to look like an old woman, was shaking in her shoes. "No more! No more!" She cried. "I'll take you there."

The metal doors behind her were pulled open to reveal row upon row of hanging cow carcasses hanging from the ceiling. The stench of the meat was horrendous as they walked down the aisle toward a garish sign announcing Happy Cows in on a metal sheet. That was where the old troll lead them to. She unlatched the door without being told to and slid it back.

Claw marks, Kai gasped as the cover of the entrance slid on well oiled wheels. Big claw marks, that tore a giant hole in the wall opening into the hidden entry. Dark, dank, and smelling of sewer water the chamber concealed one thing alone within its tunnels. The entrance to The Troll Market, locked behind the craftsmanship of masters in the form of, what must have been the largest lock on the face of the planet. Hellboy and Abraham led the way with the fragglewump set firmly between them into the dark hollow.

"Here we are," the fragglewump troll told them as they came to the circular entry. Green with age, the patina of the copper suggested it had been there since the bridge was built in eighteen eighty three.

"Wow," Hellboy said unimpressed by the size of the massive door. "That's some door."

Kai leaned against one of the damp support walls, bored already as Abe hastened to the lock, its three spinning tumblers making him worry that they would never get inside the fabled market. Lenses flipping in and out before one eye, making him doubt their success even more.

"It's a complex combination lock," Agent Krauss said, not even bothering to look. "What do you think, Agent Sapien?"

Abe walked back to the group shaking his head, his suit squeaking softly with each step, "Not good. With the number of symbols on the combination, we'll be here for days," he informed the group.

Agent Krauss held up his hand to stop the train of thought before it left the station. "Not necessarily."

Hellboy stopped him, holding up his own hand and turning to the fragglewump. "Let me try my technique. Open it, Lucy," he said attempting to imitate Dezi Arnaz's portrayal of Ricky Ricardo.

The fragglewump pulled herself up on her giant cricket like legs, only gaining three inches in height. "I will not!" She told them, scandalized at the very idea.

Red held out his hand for the tiny yellow bird. "Pretty please?"

The troll shuddered looking at the canary, finding the courage to shake an outraged finger in Big Red's direction. "Do as you may demon." Her highland brogue suddenly became much deeper as she ranted. "Release the yellow beast." Her face contorted at the thought. "Tear my eyes out. Rip my insides and my legs and my tongue,"she gestured to each body part, before jerking the offending digit at him again. "But I will never open that door."

Hellboy sighed before slamming his massive rock fist into the troll's face, sending her flying out of her patent leather boots to the end of the corridor, where she landed on a pile of scrap upsetting a cat in the process. "I could have told you that was coming," Kai muttered, although no one knew which party in that exchange she was talking to.

Agent Krauss turned back to Hellboy, after seeing the old woman get up and walk quickly away, shaking a finger mere inches from his nose. "Is that your investigative technique?"

Hellboy shrugged. "It said never."

"It's unconscionable," the suited agent told him furiously, before walking over to the tumblers.

"That means he didn't like it," Abe supplied when Hellboy looked confused.

"What!" Red snapped softly to his friend of more years than he wanted to think about, before turning to address the new male in the group. "So what? You gonna show us how it's done, Mr. By-The-Book? Is that it?"

The suit puffed his chest out, forcing Kai to hold in laughter at this clearly macho display. "Yes. I think I will." And then Johann Krauss did something no one was expecting. Considering one of the group was a reader, that was impressive. He opened a single valve and let himself out of his pressurized environmental suit. "Ah," he sighed. "There we are." The smoke that was his form drifted to the lock. "Let me see." And then three streams of the dusky grey mist began turning the tumblers, while part of him went inside to see when the pins clicked open. "Ah, yes."

Within seconds, the wheels and cogs of the doors began to spin, pulling back to unveil the market. "Gentlemen. Welcome to the Troll Market."

The Troll Market wasn't only the home of trolls in every shape and size. Gnomes and fae folk of all kinds wandered the cramped causeways of the market place, selling their wares. Man-sized goblins worked over hot furnaces, pounding red hot metal into everything from pots and pans, to rings and swords. Little three armed creatures that Abe couldn't provide the name for before they scurried off, raced hither and thither, running errands and carrying messages from one place to the next. Even a few slug-like creatures drug themselves along the floor leaving trails of slime on the grime covered floor.

"Agent Sapien, you take miss Gry and follow the hall down that way," Krauss said pointing off to what looked like another avenue, "radio in if you find anything." He strode off, his steps drawling furtive glances from the bustling crowds who lost interest quickly and went back to their work.

"HB," Kai said, latching onto his jacket with an iron grip, turning her fingers white and jerking him back as he started to follow Johann.

"Hey," he said calmly, as if trying to soothe a startled kitten, turning back to her, "Blue will take care of you." Looking at a place where being human was strange, he'd be nervous to walk into it as well, if he didn't already do it every day, walking around places where he stood out, that is.

Kai shook her head. "I'm not worried about that." She looked out into the milling people trying to put what she just foresaw, as she touched the metal of the door, in the right words. "When the time comes," she turned back, her green eyes boring into him as they met his face, "take the shot." She swallowed, forcing the lump in her throat to go down so that she could breathe once again. "Trust me and take it. Everything will work out." The pain of the giant green creature still pounded in her mind and body nearly making her black out from it. "It isn't the last."

"Okay,"Hellboy's brows furrowed in wonder. What the heck did she mean by that?

"Just trust me," Kai reiterated, releasing his arm. She gave him one last look before running to catch Abe and put the last piece in place to capture the new king in this game, without sacrificing the queen to the winds of war.

Abe looked close to gagging when Kai finally made her way through the throng to his side. The ring of a butcher knife on wood drew her attention to a bird like creature with tentacles chopping through the head of a fish, severing it cleanly from the body. "Get your fresh fish..." He announced in his guttural language to the folk around them, many it seems ate the fish whole. And after finding that out, Kai herself felt a bit green and pulled Abe down the corridor before looking to make sure they were going the right way.

The market itself was quite normal, if you discounted the species of people that populated it. Families walked from stall to stall, doing their weekly shopping and haggling loudly with annoyed shopkeepers about the prices of turnips and other things. Young lovers strode hand in hand whispering into each other's ear and giggling. There was even something that looked decidedly like a brothel, tucked into a corner where garish colors and beings of all species called from the lower windows to lost souls in need of comfort and companionship for a few hours at least.

It was also a Mecca for the melting pot of architects and their various styles. Everything from byzantine arches with gold inlay to the dark stoicism of medieval times showed itself in all its grandeur.

Dark woods and rust colored metals were tucked into everything with stolen electric illumination bathing everything in a yellowish light.

"Abe," Kai said pulling him to a stop before the one lone fruit seller on this side of the market. She had been counting the number of stalls they were at and so far she had gotten to forty one and still the answers were the same. No one knew anything, and if they did they weren't talking. She was a seer, not a telepath and Abe had to touch you to read your mind. And the Fae folk? They didn't touch you without knowing you, it was custom that they had used for centuries that worked very well to block tactile gifts. "This is going to take forever." She pulled out the tiny communicator she had been issued and pushed it firmly into her ear. "Why don't you head down the alley over there," she pointed to the alley filled with books and what looked like the heart of information for the market, "and I'll head this way?" She indicated the alley directly behind them that they were just about to enter. "And meet back here in thirty minutes unless we find something in which case we call the other, okay?"

"I don't think it's wise for you to go alone," Abe advised. "This isn't the human world."

Kai smiled beneath her veil. Wisdom was such a fickle thing. "I know that Abe. But everyone who is even noticing that we're here, is looking at you. No offense."

"None taken," he nodded, he had noted the looks. Not of fear or disgust like those among the humans up on the streets above, but more curious, interested even. But it did make getting answers from anyone difficult, when they were too caught up in looking at him, and touching his suit, one even pinched his ass and another he really didn't want to remember. No, no one was paying enough attention to realize that he had asked a question, let alone answer it. "Alright. But twenty minutes and not a moment longer."

"Deal."

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><p>And so Chapter 3 Of Blood and Markets comes to it's end. Thank you again to The Black Pages for her stellar work as my beta. Thank you to MirixHoney for their review. And everyone who has followed this story and been kind enough to leave a review for me. And the lovely actors, actresses, directors, producers, designers, writers, and crew that brought this world to life.<p>

**Don't forget to sign the Nuada petition! The link has been posted on my profile as well as in the prologue! Sign it or Mr Wink would like to have a word with you! **

**Hugs and lots of chocolate kisses to all. Mahalo for reading and reviewing once again,**

**J. Rainer**


	5. Chapter 4 Marketplace Fights

Chapter 4 Marketplace Fights

Recap:

"None taken," he nodded, he had noted the looks. Not of fear or disgust like those among the humans up on the streets above, but more curious, interested even. But it did make getting answers from anyone difficult, when they were too caught up in looking at him, and touching his suit, one even pinched his ass and another he really didn't want to remember. No, no one was paying enough attention to realize that he had asked a question, let alone answer it. "Alright. But twenty minutes and not a moment longer."

"Deal."

**Cloth Alley**

Abe took one last glance at her then turned with a shake of his blue head before turning to the mass of bodies and becoming lost in moments, allowing Kai to take a breath of relief. It wouldn't do at all if Abe wasn't in place. Now to find the pale female from yesterday's sketches. She had stood out like a butterfly against swarming moths in the vision, her colors standing out brightly against the bland background. But only able to see a few feet at a time was severely hampering Kai's attempts at finding her.

All she remembered of the vision was written in the tiny notebook she had asked for hours ago. Writing things down had helped jog her memory enough to remember the background in the pictures that coursed through her mind with the force of a flooded river. Cloth and leather, she remembered seeing it everywhere around the woman who looked no older than herself if not for her eyes. Great rolls as wide as a man, and longer than Mr Wink or his cave troll brethren were tall were stacked in corners and hung on giant pipes lining the alley. Makers and sellers of vestures called to the crowd, barking the value of their goods, adding to the din that prevailed the market.

Steam and the smell of soap hung thick in the air coming from the stalls of washers, up to their elbows in suds that smelled as sweet as the spring rain, chortling about the day's affairs, their limbs raw and sore from scrubbing. Menders sat off to the side, their own appendages covered in bandages and calluses from years of sticking themselves with needles.

A child tugged at her sleeve, her clean little face showing that someone took great care with her despite the rough appearance of her garments. At least Jada Kai believed it to be a girl. The tiny girl held out her hands begging for Kai's change and Kai was loath to turn her away. But give one child a coin and the nine others that were working the crowd would find you before you could breathe. She herself had learned the art of tugging on an unsuspecting Mark's heartstrings when she was this age. The big puppy dog eyes and the fake pout were classic moves. So was the working in numbers, never less than three, depending on the set up. One to beg, and the other two stood as look outs. She saw the ones running back and worth so where were the look outs?

Ah, up behind the screens of the second floor windows, Kai realized, catching the furtive glances of tiny faces before they realized they were caught and scurried off to find new windows to hide behind and new vantage points to keep watch from. Little octagon peep holes everywhere and no exposure. Very smart. Kai pulled her robes up enough to crouch down so that she was at eye level with the child. "Dia duit," she greeted softly, being sure to make her voice unrecognizable if anyone thought to ask the smaller female about the conversation. "An feidir leat a dheanamh dom ar dtus baire?"

The little girl squinted at her and Kai could almost see her trying to gauge the amount she could demand for the favor that was asked of her. "Ce mhead?"

Kai let loose a deep chuckle and told her five of the copper pieces that she had seen used like money was on the surface. There were only three coins it looked like. Gold, silver, and copper, each the size of a human quarter, and each denomination equaled ten pieces of the next level coin. Silver was the highest here, and that would make sense. Copper and gold coated almost every surface, but silver was nowhere to be found.

Kai didn't have the coins needed yet, but that shouldn't be too difficult to rectify. Apparently, the children down here didn't know the fine art of purse cutting or lifting, let alone pick pocketing or people would watch their bags much more carefully.

"Dha airgid," the girl countered.

"Airgid?" Kai barked in surprise. This girl was an expensive beggar. "Uimh. Amhain or. Agus ni copair nios mo." Silence would cost more but one thing at a time. There was no better spy than a small child. They see everything, and no one bothered to hide from them. "Eile le haghaidh tost." She held up two fingers. "Eile do do chairde." She added a finger knowing that if you didn't buy everyone on the team you might as well not buy anyone. And they would only get a small cut anyway, the one who found the job always got the lion's share. "Deileail?"

The little girl's face twisted into a look of thoughtful consideration as she tugged at her ear with her prehensile tail. "Cad e an bhfabhar?"

"An ga dom tu duine a fhail," Kai told her. "A bhean I guna gorm le ban aghaidh agus gruaig, leis na suile or." She didn't tell her who the woman was, that would be too much tempting information. And in the wrong hands, or a little mind who knew they could ask a higher price for information if more people wanted the same piece of knowledge, that would be very dangerous. "Agus is ga me ar an eolas ma ta duine ar bith eile ag lorg di."

The little girl nodded quickly and her musical little voice told Kai, "Thuiscint," before scampering away on her mission. With any luck, it wouldn't take very long. Now to procure payment for the little one. Kai wished she had accepted copper. Copper was less likely to be missed, but gold was much easier to get a hold of than silver.

Kai straightened, pulling a tiny knife from her boot without anyone's notice and began doing what she did best. Less than ten minutes later, she had the needed coins within the tiny bag that held her notebook, her blade replaced in it's sheath, having only been use twice in the cramped market, and no one was any wiser. She knew it had been a good idea to have all that training when she was little, it was just like riding a bike, the skill was never lost. It was an art that you either had an aptitude for or not. And she had always had a feather light touch.

She had been very careful to only remove one coin per person, and only from people who had more coins than they knew what to do with, that way no family starved and the money wasn't missed. Okay, so she may have taken a few from a store owner who was trying to take the last coin from a malnourished teen who was trying to feed his sibling. And if with those coins happened to buy a week's worth of food that might have possibly found their way into the child's hands, well that wasn't such a bad thing. Now was it?

Noises rose and fell like ocean waves within the giant walls. Beings filling the air with their lives, unconcerned by what could come tomorrow. Jada found a tiny stall that served tea and took a seat just to sit and watch them pass by, waiting for her little informant to return, and listened to the sounds of life.

Someone coughed at her elbow trying to get her attention. "An bhfuil tu reidh le hordu?" He asked. Kai turned in the little chair toward him, about to tell him to go away, as she was slowly losing patience. Not with her tiny spy, but the entire situation. How the heck was she supposed to untangle the snag that fate had worked itself into, when the players of this game were sending her curve balls every other minute? The princess was not supposed to be in this market. She was supposed to run until she got back to Ireland where there was an entire network set up to protect her, every royal family member actually, and the last crown piece.

But the waiter was actually very cute. But she wasn't sure what kind of creature he was. Elf? Fae? No, something else, she decided. He was taller than her, thank goodness, she couldn't stand short guys. About six feet three inches tall. His sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes made her heart flutter, but it was his easy smile that made her stomach twist. "Tes le do thoil. Luibhe. Ma ta tu e."

He smiled and went to place her order. As he walked away, Kai's jaw nearly hit the floor. She wasn't really a woman who paid attention to a male's rear, but gods that one was a fine specimen. It filled out his pants like they were molded to his skin.

And just before she started drooling, her little spy tugged at her veil. Kai leaned over so the little one could whisper in her ear. Nuala had been found, but a huge troll was also looking for her. The girl held her hands as far apart as she could, her eyes as wide as saucers. It began to sound like Mr. Wink, as she described him the best that she could. Kai felt like slapping herself in the forehead and saying Doh! She should have known that Wink would be the one looking for Nuada's sister. The prince wouldn't entrust the job of finding her to your everyday street urchin. Not like Kai who was willing to use everything and everyone to do whatever was necessary to stay alive.

Well almost everyone. There were rules after all. Family? Off limits. Friends? Well, that depends on the friend. Anyone else? Fair game. Unless it was kids or old people, if it was something that that could get them hurt, they were off limits as well. She wasn't a monster. Just creative.

She pulled the three pieces of gold and showed them to the informant, before placing them back in the bag that was hidden underneath the voluminous robe. If being a pickpocket and a thief in a former life had taught her anything, it was how to not to lose things to other people's sticky fingers. Loose clothes meant any pickpocket would have to take a few extra seconds to find where the money was hidden, feeling around the person. Those extra seconds could be the difference between a pay day and getting caught. And unless you got really lucky, it wasn't a payday you'd find.

"Tu ioc nuair a leirionn tu dom mo chara."

The little female smiled shyly. She knew someone who lived on the streets in one form or another. "Ta a fhios agam." She took Kai's hand and tugged her to her feet and away from her seat.

Kai back looked longingly over her shoulder at the cup of tea that the waiter had just got around to bringing her. He just stood there as she was tugged past him, tiny cup in the center of a large round tray resting on the pads of webbed hand. Webbed, really? He was still worth a second look, she decided. Or a third. He looked down at the tea, she didn't have to touch him to get a read on his emotions. He was disappointed. Good, she thought, maybe later then.

Her spy didn't release her grip on Kai's fingers as she pushed through the solid wall of people in holes that a mouse would have trouble fitting through. Straight to a seller of robes much like the one Kai was wrapped in. Around to the rear of the stall they went, sneaking by the seller as he was engaged in yelling at a thief. The thief threw up his hands dramatically and stormed off as soon as they were safely by. That was too perfect not to have been planned, Kai mused as the little one pulled her down behind the racks of hanging clothes and toward the curtains that looked to be a fitting room from the outside.

Abruptly the child halted in her tracks and held out her hand demanding payment.

"Cen ait?" Kai asked digging out the coins.

The little one pointed to the fitting room tapestry and held out her hand once again. She had no reason to stay, but for the fact that she had yet to receive her fee, and she was anxious to get out of the stall before she was seen.

Kai looked deep into the child's eyes, trying to see if she was indeed being truthful, and detecting no deceit, paid her debt without a moment more of hesitation. There was no need to prolong this arrangement, and the sooner they parted ways, the better for everyone involved.

As the child scurried away, her tail tapping out a rhythm in the air to a song only she heard, Kai gathered the courage to enter the partitioned room. Well now or never, she grumbled to herself, pulling back the curtain. It's rough, heavy weave scratched at her skin as she pushed it aside. Darkness waited within, only a single taper candle illuminating the interior. Shadows played with the flame's light like ocean waves. One retreated and one advanced, push and pull in a motion as old as time itself.

Kai suddenly felt herself shoved into the corner of the two solid walls in the small chamber, a knife pressed against her wind pipe. This was getting very old, she mused. "Who are you? Did my brother send you?"

"One who means you no harm, Princess Nuala. And since your brother tried to kill me yesterday, I think it's safe to say he didn't send me." Kai said, a lump forming deep in her chest. It wasn't her own feelings that she felt swimming within her, she realized, the were Nuala's. "If there's something you want to know," Kai held out her hand, "take the answers. I give them freely."

How did this person know? How did she know that each time Nuala was forced to tear into someone's mind, it felt like a red hot poker was jammed into her nasal canal and up into her own brain? But that simply offering to let her look in their mind would cancel out that feeling and give her one of that felt of cool, soothing water in a parched and thirsty land. Nuala's eyes shimmered in the low lighting as tears of relief threatened to fall, when she took the strange female's hand. Minds flooded into each other as information was given and understanding shared.

Kai's eyes flew shut as her mind was assaulted with pictures of a giant green creature that tore at the surrounding buildings in its confusion. Pain erupted from the forest god's shoulder as it fell into the building behind it, taking Jada Kai with it. Kai hit her knees, sliding down the wall behind her, Nuala seeing everything along with her, but shielded from the pain by mental walls Kai had spent a lifetime building. Kai's mouth opened in a silent scream as her skull was ripped apart in pain. The green creature contorted in its death spasms, pain shooting through her belly and chest while her breathing slowed and her neck began displaying ligature marks, deep and penetrating. Marks of what could be.

Nuala had seen the marks of a seer, but never had the signs been this strong. This girl was a force to be reckoned with. Nuala didn't start truly begin worrying until her breathing stopped. But before she could work up a good nervous fit, Kai gasped, her eyes wide and terrified of all she had seen and felt, forced herself to her feet, feeling dangerously close to the edge of her sanity in the wake of yet another horrifying premonition, releasing Nuala's hand and pulling off her robe. "You saw the vision?" Kai asked, her voice raw and her breathing labored, handing Nuala the overcoat, making sure that the princess had seen the horror to come.

Nuala nodded, numbly holding the fabric in her arms like a lifeline, as Kai pulled aside the curtain to see if anyone was taking an interest in their hiding spot. "I saw."

"It's possible, princess," Kai said, taking the jacket and pulling the cloth around Nuala's shoulders. "To change the future." Kai looked into the taller elf's golden yellow eyes and saw her tenuous courage. Her stand was still the same, but what she had just seen shook her to her very core. "The future is always in motion. Nothing is set until it happens," Kai laughed, smiling softly at the woman's fears like you would to sooth a child's terror, "sometimes, not even then."Kai peeked around the curtain edge again and felt as is a bolt of electricity hit every one of her muscles as she spotted Mr. Wink out of the corner of her eye.

"Put of the robe," Kai ordered pulling off her veil and shaking back her curly hair. "Your blue dress is too easy to spot."

Nuala tugged the sleeves over her arms and secured the robe. "I assume you have a plan."

Kai winked, her face now lit by the tiny shaft of light from where she held the curtain open. "Put on the veil as well." Kai shut the drape quickly and turned back to the nervous princess. "I can buy you a five minute head start to get to that map. Don't trust anyone other than Abraham Sapien and anyone he introduces as his team."

Nuala wrapped the veil over her head, carefully making sure that no hair was uncovered. "And you trust this...this... Abraham?" She asked pulling the last length of fabric over her face.

"I trust them with my life, princess."Jada Kai pulled a pair of long leather gloves that showed careful maintenance and hard usage, from her small satchel. Kai didn't even want to know who had donated these or what they had been used for, so long as they protected her hands and arms from sharp objects, that was all that mattered, she thought tugging them into place on her hands and tying the laces above her elbows. "And for the record, I always have a plan."

Kai threw open the curtain and strode a few steps forward into the light as Mr. Wink glanced over and took a second incredulous look a moment later. "We can't change the path the immediate future will take, your Highness, but we can give it a new direction." Jada released a whistle that made everyone stop and stare, Mr. Wink among them as she drew her swords. "Get to the map princess." She murmured, her blades glinting dangerously in the low light as she prepared to make a large enough distraction without costing lives. "And when the time for remembrance comes, it was the Rom princess of the lower Fae Kingdom that stepped between death and life tonight, and here is where I stay."

Nuala nodded knowing Kai would not see and doubting with every fiber of her being that her savior would live past this encounter, the young woman's fearless determination was bound to get her killed, and slipped out behind her and into the crowds that now gathered to see this confrontation and the small combatant's death.

Kai's face set in a grim smile as Mr. Wink began advancing, her swords at the ready and her back at the proverbial wall, a roar signaling the beginning of this fight. Suddenly the vague shadow of an idea formed in her mind, inspired by the snap and crackle that bounced off the walls from what looked like a firework stall. After all, what was more distracting than the flash of lights and explosion of perfectly harmless fireworks? Better yet, the stall was in the opposite direction than the princess and that map. "Come on, Mr. Wink. Let's dance, you and I?" She purred, digging her toes into the dirt caked floor.

Mr. Wink charged at full speed, bringing his metal arm up to slam into her, ending this battle within moments of its beginning. But Kai dove to the side, under the rickety tables that held up the clothing merchant's wares, thwarting his plans, swinging her sword out behind her, catching Wink on the back of his leg. A more annoying cut than anything, but it did serve its purpose of slowing him down.

Wink roared in pain, stopping to look at the cut she gave him. Blood flowed freely down the lower half of his leg, thick and black like molasses. That little...human! He thought angrily, tossing tables to the left and right looking for the slippery female.

"Oh. Now look what you've done, Mr. Wink." Kai taunted from the alley walkway. "Making such a mess. It's bad for business. Now come out here and we can talk." Her swords rested safely in their scabbards, there were too many people around to use them with no collateral damage. Instead, in their place were two dirks, the blades resting their cool metal along the length of her arm as she held the carved bone and ebony handles gently.

Mr. Wink snarled, walking toward her, Kai retreating with each step he took. His hand came up and made a fist ready to launch at her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Wink chuckled. "Ba mhaith liom." And he swung.

Kai twisted and swung her knife against the stone behind her, striking a spark that lit a fuse. The fuse ignited and sent a pair of fireworks into Mr. Wink's chest, throwing him to the far end of the alley just as she hit the ground and covered her ears, waiting for the explosion that would shake the dust from the ceiling. "Goodbye, Mister Wink."

Voices in her ear called frantically. Oh, that's right, Kai thought, clicking the button on the side of the ear piece, taking her mike off mute. "Kai checking in. Nothing over here, heading back to Abe." Not that I'm going back to the nest just yet, Kai added mentally, I have some things to do first. She turned off her ear piece and dropped it on the ground, crushing it under her heel. "See you in a couple of days, guys. Be careful."

Translation:

Dia duit. (Elven / Irish Gaelic) = Hello.

An feidir leat a dheanamh dom ar dtus baire? (Elven / Irish Gaelic) = Can you do me a favor?

Ce mhead? (Elven/ I.G.) = How much?

Dha airgid. (Elven/ I.G.) = Two silver.

Airgid? (Elven / I.G.) = Silver?

Uimh. (Elven / I.G.) = No.

Amhain or. (Elven / I.G.) = One gold.

Agus ni copair nios mo. (Elven / I.G.) = And not a copper more.

Eile le haghaidh tost. (Elven / I.G.) = Another for silence.

Eile do do chairde. (Elven / I.G.) = And another for your friends.

Deileail? (Elven / I.G.) = Deal?

Cad e an bhfabhar? (Elven / I.G.) = What's the favor?

An ga dom tu duine a fhail. (Elven / I.G.) = I need you to find someone.

A bhean I guna gorm le ban aghaidh agus gruaig, leis na suile or.(Elven / I.G.) = A lady in a blue dress with a white face and hair with gold eyes.

Agus is ga me ar an eolas ma ta duine ar bith eile ag lorg di. (Elven/ I.G.) = And I need to know if anyone else is looking for her.

Thuiscint. (Elven / I.G.) = Understood.

An bhfuil tu reidh le hordu? (Elven /I.G.) = Are you ready to order?

Tes le do thoil. (Elven / I.G.) = Tea please.

Luibhe. (Elven / I.G.) = Herbal.

Ma ta tu e. (Elven / I.G.) = If you have it.

Tu ioc nuair a leirionn tu dom mo chara. (Elven / I.G.) = You get paid when you show me my friend.

Ta a fhios agam. (Elven / I.G.) = I know.

Cen ait? (Elven / I.G.) = Where?

Ba mhaith liom. (Elven / I.G.) = I would.


	6. Chapter 5 Chained

Diclaimer: I still don't own it.

Chapter 5 Chained

Recap:

Voices in her ear called frantically. Oh, that's right, Kai thought, clicking the button on the side of the ear piece, taking her mike off mute. "Kai checking in. Nothing over here, heading back to Abe." Not that I'm going back to the nest just yet, Kai added mentally, I have some things to do first. She turned off her ear piece and dropped it on the ground, crushing it under her heel. "See you in a couple of days, guys. Be careful."

**Troll Market cafe**

Kai sat sipping tea, her eyes shut to concentrate on seeing the fight between Hellboy and Wink in her mind three seconds before each blow, wincing as Wink was crushed in the trash compactor. She saw the panic on her new friends' faces when she didn't answer her com. She felt Nuada's pain and rage as he heard of Mr. Wink's demise. It felt like a knife in her stomach and acid dripping slowly into the wound.

She saw the forest god break the surface, felt it rock the market, heard beings scream on the surface and below, while she nibbled contentedly on what was probably the best cookie she had ever tasted. No, this close to history in the making, it couldn't be changed more than the little she had. But those small steps could be the beginning of something much greater. With a fair bit of luck.

Her table rocked slightly under her arms, as someone took the empty seat across the cracked linoleum from her. Kai's eyes flew open. "You're the woman who came in earlier, but didn't stay for her tea."

Kai smiled at her former waiter. "Ni mor duit a shileadh tri bhotun."

"Sure I am," he grinned, speaking with a heavy New Jersey accent. "It would help your case, if you didn't smell cleaner than anything down here," he chuckled. "And you sound like you're just off the boat from the Emerald Isle."

Kai laughed, toasting him with her tea cup. "Alright Jersey, you caught me."

He swiped a cookie from her plate and popped it in his mouth. "Knew it. So are you of the royal court?" He asked, trying to steal another cookie.

"Get your own." Kai smacked his hand pulling the plate closer toward herself. "These are mine," she laughed. "What makes you say that?" She pulled her attention away from the crowd that seemed to be whispering quite a bit more than normal.

"Yes, they are talking about you," he said pulling her tea cup off its saucer. "Well there are rumors about royals in the market. Two were easy to spot. The market is protected for our kind. Pretty safe. But when a woman fights well enough to be considered a warrior, carries enough steel to be a walking arsenal, has the ruins of Odin, thurisaz, and jera on her forearms and wrists. They mean god of war, titans and good harvest don't they?" Kai nodded, so far it only was knowledge anyone could find. "Then there is the Claddaghs on your biceps. And Aeglin on your back in gold. Add it together and you get elven royalty with Norse and Celtic connections."

Kai chuckled. "That's a lot of guessing," she took the tea cup back and drained it. "But you missed the ones on my legs. What do you get when you add all that together?"

His eyes grew to saucer size, as the slits that were his pupils narrowed. "You can't be. They're only legends," he murmured under his breath, placing his shaking hands on the table.

"Spread the word," Kai out a cookie as a peace offering, "legends live," she winked, as he took the cookie. "You, I, and this entire place are proof of that."

"If you are," his voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around quickly for eavesdroppers, "one of them, what are you doing here?"

"Setting the world back in order," Kai shrugged. "What else?" She said as if that was an everyday thing. "Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Depends," he said, standing from his seat and picking up the now empty plates and tea cup.

"I need to be captured by the prince of Bethmoora. Mind spreading the rumor that a disgusting female human is here, and making sure he hears it? I'll pay you, to do it, of course," she said digging out money for her food and placing it in his hand.

He looked at his palm thoughtfully as if trying to decide something. "Keep it," he gave the coins back to her. "If you can stop this senseless war and keep more people we love from dying needlessly, the food and the favor are on me," he looked deep in her eyes gauging what he saw within. Would she be strong enough to do what she had to? Would she give her life if it came to that? "Everyone here has lost someone we loved to this, to gain the peace we have or to keep it, on both sides," he looked at his feet, trying to rein in his grief that he tried to keep locked tightly away from the world. "Don't let them die in vain."

"You have my word, that my life will be sacrificed before I allow that to happen."

**Rumor Mill and Grapevine minutes later**

_"If you cannot lead, you must follow."_

Those words resounded in her skull as if a battering ram hammered them into her brain. Echoing within the confined spaces. Did he know the true meaning of those words?

Nervously, Kai twisted a knife in her fingers, exactly the way she had been trained not to. The first time she had done it, she got a scar across her left palm. The older women in the caravans nearly had a heart attack when they saw it. They started screaming of early death and destruction, that if she didn't find another direction than the one she had chosen by training with the elders and warriors, learning to lead, her life would be short and one of perpetual turmoil. She had chosen turmoil, and even though her hand had taken months of pain and retraining to heal, she was contented with her decision, and the knife still played in her fingers.

The market grew quiet around her and she felt eyes upon her skin, burning holes deep into her flesh. It didn't take a genius to know who had just showed up to invoke that kind of reaction. "It's about time you showed up prince. I've been waiting a whole ten minutes." His hand wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her to her feet like a spoiled child. "Easy Silverlance. At least buy me dinner and a drink first."

"Human!" He spat. "Haven't your kind done enough damage already?" He raised a hand to slap her.

"I beat you once, your highness. Don't press your luck," Jada Kai growled, her knife pressing lightly at his groin.

Nuada's rage-filled face registered surprise and shock before clouding with anger as he dropped his hands. "You're not worth the trouble," he turned away and began to leave when she called to him.

"They have Nuala blindfolded, at my request and her suggestion," she smiled as he spun back to her. It would have been easy enough for him to prove she was lying, but ire clouded his mind, making him blind to all else but its fiery embrace. "You'll never find her without help. And no one here or anywhere on the surface but me knows where she and your precious crown piece are going to be." Kai didn't flinch as Nuada invaded her personal space, her only reaction was to raise an eyebrow as she stared up at him. "Good luck finding her." Kai smiled at her waiter with a wave over Nuada's shoulder and turned to exit the cafe.

The target on her back couldn't be painted any larger if she tried. Nuada stared at her, not sure if he should kill her immediately and find his sister on his own, or torture the information out of her. As she rounded the corner headed to the surface, he made the decision with the butt end of his spear to the base of her skull. "Bean damnaigh."

Sharp pain and blackness where all Kai met with as she hit the ground in a crumpled heap.

**Unknown chamber in the underground**

Water dripped from a slow leak in the pipes above, pulling Kai from her spear induced haze, aided by the knot of fire that blossomed like a rose on her neck. Should have known he would take a cheap shot, Kai thought through the pain, bastard. Whimpy bastard, she mentally corrected, tugging at her wrists, feeling the solid chain that had her locked, spread eagle to the old stone wall behind her. He couldn't even face her without short lengths of chain holding her from strangling him in his sleep. Bummer, well then there's plan b, Kai chuckled to herself, if there had been a plan a. I'm kinda winging this.

"Oh look. The parasite is awake." Nuada tugged on the chain making sure it was secure. "So glad I didn't damage it."

"Get to the point, you moronic elf with your head so far up your ass that you can't see daylight." She growled, feeling every bit the animal that she sounded like.

"Must you insist on provoking me, human?" Nuada asked, tilting her face up to look at him. He sounded tired, weary from what felt like a millennia of fighting and looking over his shoulder for the next attack.

Kai's upper lip curled into a snarl. "You know what they say about caged animals." She tore her head from his fingers,refusing once again to look at him.

"What do they say, human?" Nuada placed his hands on the wall behind her, one on each side of her head, invading what little space she had. He tilted his head down to her neck, looking to see if the scent that so confused him the previous day, was false the way human females wore different smells like the clothes they seemed to change with nearly every passing hour. But he could find no spot where the scent was stronger. This scent of sea, rain, lavender, and sage,was her.

"That when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry." Kai felt like writhing underneath his gaze like a cat in heat. Of all the Fae to find the spot that made her want to purr, it had to be him when she was chained to a wall. Fate had a cruel sense of humor, Kai remarked as his hot breath rained down on her. "You know Silverlance, stand this close much longer and I'll have to insist you buy me dinner."

Nuada took a step back mentally shaken, realizing what he was doing. She had gotten to his body just with her scent. He needed the sour stench of fear to color her, if only to regain his own control. "If I wanted you female, I would just take you."

Kai cachinnated in his face, her entire body shaking the links embedded in the wall, loosening them by hairs with each spasm. "Silverlance, you couldn't even kill me when you had the chance. And you had three prime opportunities. And you think you scare me by threatening rape? " She could barely breathe from the laughter stealing her breath. Her sides ached from the guffaws. "I'm beginning to wonder if you have the equipment for the job."

Nuada flung a hand out, smacking her across the jaw, splitting her lips. "Do not push me human." He licked the tiny trace of blood on the tips of his fingers. "You'll find you don't like the results."

Kai's face fell, not from the smack. She hadn't expected it so quickly but it was of little importance. Slaps were nothing new. Live over half your life with normal people thinking that you were only a tramp and a thief, wandering from place to place taking when you could, and selling yourself when you couldn't, you got used to that and worse. You learned how to take a little pain. If your were strong enough, you made the pain work for you as you fought back. If you were weak, you ended up going numb. And Kai never settled for weak.

"My name is Jada Kai Gry! Not human!" She thundered, the sound echoing in the open room and the tunnels that led off into the shadows. Her teeth reddish gold from the blood that stained them. "Hit me again and you may not live to regret it."

"You seem very confident." He fingered the leather of her miniscule shirt, seemingly unable to keep distance between himself and this stubborn female. "For a female chained to my wall." His idle hand wiped the blood that seeped down her chin, painting a sticky damp line. With each pass he licked off the fluid, nearly purring at the taste as it swept over his tongue like the sweetest wine. "And bleeding. How do you know I won't use your body until it goes cold?"

Kai looked him over quickly before answering. He was paler than she was used to. The Rom that she grew beside were for the most part dark and brown, kissed by the summer sun, but he looked just as strong as she knew they were. If it was merely a question of physical ability, she would have had to admit, it was possible. "Because you aren't the monster everyone else sees." She answered, licking the still oozing blood from her lips.

"I just hit you." Nuada stated, not apologetically or even chagrined, but as a reminder of just how much control she had over the situation.

"Does losing your temper make you a monster?" Kai asked. "I pushed, you pushed back." She shrugged as much as the chains would allow. "Don't misunderstand me though. Do it again and you and I will have problems." The chains on her ankles gave way as she shifted, trying to work out the muscles of her shoulders, not even bothering to cover up the clanging. It wasn't as if you could tell where the clanging came from in the dark, and her motion covered up the rest.

"In your current position I'd doubt you could do much." Nuada laughed darkly, tossing his shirt on top of the small chair that flanked the fireplace, or what worked as a fireplace. It was really a circle of fallen stones that the Brownies, who felt it their job to look after the prince, built so that they could care for him. Including cooking meals. One of them scurried behind him, to pull the shirt off the chair and carry it off to The Gods only knew where. Their duel heads arguing over, was it kittens? That's what it sounded like at least.

Kai licked her lips suggestively, seeing exactly what buttons made him wince the hardest when she pushed. "You don't know me very well, do you?"

Nuada glared at her, tapping his back with his spear impatiently. "I have no intention to know you."

"Ah." Kai nodded. "A rendition play." She chuckled, twisting her hands in the shackles that bound her. "Weak plan, prince. I'm a no one. They won't trade me for your sister." The handcuffs were tight, but not horribly so. Just uncomfortable and tight enough that they wouldn't slip off. "Just out of curiosity, you do have a plan after you get the last crown piece and the army, right?" Nuada stumbled in his routine in surprise, barely catching his balance before he hit the floor. "Uh oh. Is having no one to spar with possibly making you go soft?"

"Be silent!" Nuada yelled, his voice making the ache in her skull worse by degrees as it reverberated through her bones and the cold stone she was attached to.

"Nope." She laughed, her body shaking again. This time she worked of the chains at her hands. Never pulling enough to take the chains from the wall, they were set deeper than the ones on the floor, but she didn't need her hands, not yet anyway. "Not planning on it. But speaking of plans, why don't you tell me yours?"

The prince placed his spear against the wall, knowing he'd never be able to concentrate with her yammering. "Have you no sense of self-preservation?" He asked taking a threatening step closer. Not close enough, but it was a step in the right direction, Kai mused.

"None at all." Kai said with a grin. "Da always said I had more balls than brains."

Nuada chuckled darkly. "Sounds like a wise man." He moved to the table her weapons were on. "Why would a woman carry so many blades?" He picked up her favorite blade, its etching reflecting the light from the fire against the wall. "Beautiful." He studied the carved metal handle. It was the blade her father had given her, after she took down one of his better guards in a sparring session. He hadn't known if he should be proud or furious. After seeing that she had taken a beating and still won, he settled on incredibly proud.

Kai forced herself not to look at him toying with the blades. It was as bad as being groped by a drunk stranger in her opinion. "Habit. I like sharp and shiny or bright and hot." She laughed wryly. "So your plan, Silverlance? I'm kind of bored of just hanging around. So if you wouldn't mind. Get to the point."

Every second he didn't answer felt like a drop of flesh eating acid burning in her veins. "Or I could just guess." Jada Kai rolled her eyes. "Once you have control of the army you're going to be going after world leaders, presidents, kings, prime ministers, and the like, crushing any and all human population that you come across?" Her fingers dancing through the air as she outlined the, what she considered, very boring, ineffectual battle designs. "Again, weak. It only gives humans time to come up with a plan. Because that army may be indestructible, it may be able to put itself back together after it's ripped apart. But even it can't come back from being melted down."

"A decent bomb, or even high explosive incendiary rounds would reduce your golden army to slag. So you have a limited amount of time before human armies realize that." Nuada put the knife that he was toying with down. "When the army was last used, humans didn't have access to acetylene or c4. You have been stuck in a hole for what, nearly a thousand years? Do you have any idea how world works now?" A knife came flying past her and imbedded itself in the wall an inch from her ear. "I take that as a no. So human weaponry, politics, operational procedures, anything else to even make your plan feasible, you have no clue about. Yes, I would love placing my life in your hands."

Anger welled within Nuada's chest. This female was poking holes in his program like the strategy were as flimsy as soap bubbles. "What do you know of war? I was fighting long before you were a thought to be had." He yelled, advancing on her.

"And you obviously learned nothing!" Kai shouted back. "Nothing of patience! Nothing of planning! Nothing of knowing your adversary better than you do yourself! You've hid your head in the sands and guess what! Time didn't wait for you! It advanced and left you behind!"

Nuada came within arms' length, as if he was weighing which would be more effective at shutting her mouth, kissing her or strangling her. Before he could finish making the decision, Kai's hands wrapped around the chains at her hands and she pulled herself up. She bent in half at the waist, her legs coming up to his shoulders, and in less than a second it was over before it began. Her thighs were wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air. And less than ten seconds later, Nuada was slumped unconscious on the stone floor. "Sorry for the headache you'll wake up with, big guy. But you and I need to have a civil conversation, not a yelling match," Kai murmured to the silent room before working on her manacles.

The sandpaper like texture of the rust that coated the cuffs bit into her skin, opening her flesh and letting golden red fluid flow freely down her arms as she steadily worked to free herself. But the links stuck fast in the stone. Kai turned her head to a most painful angle, looking at the links, studying them for weakness. Each segment and joint were examined in the hopes that she wouldn't have to choose option z on the list of how to get out of ancient shackles. Unfortunately without something to pick the locks, or a weakness in the metal, option z was steadily becoming the only option. "Damn."

Kai placed the bottom of her feet against the walls base while holding the chains tight within her palms, and slowly began walking backwards, up the cold stone, using the links and her wrists like a fulcrum and her legs, becoming with each step backwards and up, coils of muscles, ready and waiting to pull the metal bonds away from wall with one powerful push. "Oh hell." She shut her eyes tight, holding herself perpendicular to the floor. "This is gonna hurt." And she pushed, her arms pulling on the chain and her legs pushing the wall causing the mortar to give way with a groaning shriek as Kai's right shoulder snapped angrily. The bones dislocated, joint from its socket, causing Kai to scream in pain falling to the floor as her mind faded into blackness.

**Ten minutes and a dislocated shoulder later.**

It was the pain that woke her up. "I'm getting really sick of waking up in pain because of a damned elf," she muttered, pulling her legs underneath her stomach. It wasn't easy, but she managed to push her now bloodied and bruised body off the floor, into a kneeling position. Her head swam in a sea of nausea with rocky outcroppings of agony that popped up when the sick feelings ebbed even slightly. "Just for this," Kai rambled to keep from losing the battle to stay awake. "If I find a pub in that market place before this is over, you're buying the bar a round. No discussion." She glanced over at his unmoving form.

Kai hissed through clenched teeth as she forced her legs to bare her weight. With tears of unvoiced anguish coursing her cheeks, she took first one then another step, clutching her injured arm to her side, waves of pain crashing against her with each movement, as she staggered to the tiny step in front of the fireplace.

There were times that she hated what she was. There were times were all she wanted to do was sit and cry, but her gifts kept prodding her, poking her with a red hot stick, yelling at the top of its lungs, "MOVE!" Now was one of those times. Now, when she only wished to curl into a ball, holding her injured limb and scream at the heavens, she was instead prodded to action.

There were times when it was draining. Times when seeing into everything became a weight, one that crushed her, grinding her bones into powder to blow away on the winds. Each time she saw death, each time she saw agony. Without the shades of emotion that people could put on a situation to protect themselves, because she saw into the heart of the matter, she could feel the emotions of those around her, because they were also pieces of the circumstance, but not shield her own soul

Most didn't know what a seer truly was. How what they saw would drive most insane, slowly or immediately, it didn't matter when, just that it would. Thousands of pieces fit together in millions of ways to end up in a billion more pieces, a never ending circle of time and circumstance, chance, and happenstance. Seers saw the now, the past and the future, with perfect clarity, no point of view, just the puzzle of how people and times fit together. And when something was out of place it was like a thousand needles being driven into her eyeballs.

Nuada was out of place now. His pain was raw and acerbic against the tranquility that she had carefully cultivated within herself like fragile hot house orchids. But she couldn't deal with him now. She was losing blood at her slashed and sliced wrists, and her skin felt as if sand were being ground into her pores, so much rust had flaked off and now coated her dermis. Where were the brownies when you really needed them? "I could use some help guys!"

A Brownie popped his head out from behind a pile of stone. He, or it, squeaked in surprise and darted back into their habitat only to return a moment later with two hands holding a bowl of water and the third a small basket with what looked like strips of cloth bandages.

Its tiny hands gently bathed her bleeding wrists, careful to get the the flakes of rust out from where they lodged inside her muscles. It looked up with sad, mournful eyes as out of their hands pulled a small bottle out of the basket and pulled the cork from the glass mouth.

"Gonna hurt again isn't it?" Kai muttered.

"Mo leithsceal o chroi, mo bhean. Ta." Its high pitched voice squealed in reply.

Kai nodded, a tiny smile pulling at her lips as she gritted her teeth against the coming pain. "Ceart go leor. An bhfuil se." At least this kind of burn she knew how to deal with.

Her gums bled and teeth cracked as she clenched her jaw and fists as the little fae poured the astringent liquid on her bleeding skin. Her nails cut little furrows in her palms as her knuckles turned white with the strain of holding still. But before the ache drove her to distraction, the tiny Brownie stopped pouring. Its hands on her abused skin were like soothing balm as it wrapped her joint as delicately as possible. Every time she groaned, the little medic as Kai had dubbed it, winced but didn't stop its treatment.

When it had finished it tucked everything away, leaving only an even smaller bottle full of a fluid that would speed healing. Will you use it? The Brownie asked, a scowl on it's duel faces.

"Ta." Kai took the bottle gingerly in her fingers. Glass and she had always possessed a rocky relationship at best, and now with the damage to her tendons and muscles, she could barely hold the vial. "If I can hold it," she muttered, placing the vial gingerly down on the floor. "Hey would you happen to know where some really strong rope, that I could borrow, is? Preferably not course." The Brownie looked confused for a moment until Kai pointed to the snoozing prince. "I won't hurt him. Much." The Brownie winked at her knowingly. It had heard the rumors of this female already. And it had decided as it cleaned and bandaged her wounds, that maybe she was worth the risk.

Moments after it disappeared, the Brownie returned with a large coil of soft rope. It was thick enough to be strong without being ineffective. It would do nicely, Kai decided, tugging the end, testing its tensile strength. Very nicely indeed.

Translations and Quotes:

Ni mor duit a shileadh tri bhotun. (Elven/ I.G.) = You must be mistaken.

Norse runes = Go to (Remove the spaces) ww w . tattoosymbol runes . html and look up Odin, Jera, and Thurisaz for more information and pictures.

Aeglin = Father Tree in the Hellboy 'verse. The same symbol that is on the prince's belt throughout the movie..

(Kai also has a triskele on her lower back but it was covered and so not mentioned here.)

Bean damnaigh. (Elven/ I.G) = Damn woman.

That when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry. = Thank you X-men 3 and the yummy Wolverine!

More balls than brains. = I can't believe I'm saying this but, thank you Mummy and the gross Beni.

Da = Pet name equal to Father or dad

Mo leithsceal o chroi, mo bhean. (Elven/ I.G.) = My deepest apologies, my lady.

Ta. (Elven/ I.G.)= Yes.

Ceart go leor. (Elven/I.G.)= Alright.

An bhfuil se. (Elven/I.G.)= Do it.


	7. Chapter 6 Stay

**A/N: Hey! Nice to see you all again. Sorry I'm late. Having some trouble with writers block. Hoping to have that fixed soon. Who knows. Love you all. Thank my lovely Beta The Black Pages for kicking my butt. LOL.**

**As usual I own nothing. Read and have fun**

Chapter 6 Stay

Recap:

Moments after it disappeared, the Brownie returned with a large coil of soft rope. It was thick enough to be strong without being ineffective. It would do nicely, Kai decided, tugging the end, testing its tensile strength. Very nicely indeed.

**B.P.R.D Garbage Truck heading to B.P.R.D. Headquarters currently somewhere in route to Fairfield, Connecticut. **

"What do you mean you couldn't find her?" Manning began yelling as soon as the garbage truck was in motion. His face steadily becoming as red as Hellboy's. "I knew we shouldn't have taken a civilian into the field!" He threw his hands into the air in frustration. No one listened to him! "And you!" He rounded on HB. "What part of low profile do you not understand!"

Liz held onto Red's arm like an anchor, holding him to the here and now. Giving her support to the man she loved, even if he didn't realize it. "We did what we had to do to save lives, Manning! Did you want us to sit back and watch people die?" Her skin began heating up, burning the plastic of the seat she was buckled into, melting it to its frame.

Hellboy would have laughed at Manning as he sputtered to come up with a reply, had he not been lost in his own thoughts. She had been right. He had needed to take the shot. To save Liz, to save everyone, he killed something like himself. Something otherworldly, simply because it posed a threat to humans. The humans who didn't even like him. Would they kill him at the first chance they got? What about Liz? Would she be marked for death for being different? And Abe? Was his life considered barely worth the cost of a bullet, because of something he never had control over? _"It isn't the last." _Those words may have been a comfort to him, but it didn't change the fact that the forest god had been sentenced to death simply because humans didn't understand it and were afraid of it.

"Excuse me." The princess said quietly drawing attention to herself for the first time since the truck door had shut. She was holding up the two sides of her seat belt, looking slightly green and nervous. "How does this restraint work?" She hadn't yet been able to feed the one end its mate the way the others had without thinking. "It's my first time in one of your metal vehicles. I'm afraid I don't know how this works."

Abe, who had been lost in thought and effectually ignoring Manning's meltdown, nearly blushed in embarrassment. They had almost forgotten the Elven Princess in the rush and let down of events. "My apologies, my lady." He took the seat belt from her delicate fingers, securing it about her small waist with a click. "I know you saw Jada Kai." He looked up at her with worry dancing through his eyes. "Did she say why she decided to stay behind?"

"Only that she always had a plan." Nuala answered softly, twisting her hand in her lap nervously.

"She showed you something." Abe realized. The feelings that poured off her were the same ones he had when Kai showed him the events of the past. "Something terrible."

"I was shown your deaths."

Liz jumped, instantly cooling down, one hand pulling away from HB to rest on her still flat belly protectively. "What do you mean?"

Nuala took in each of their faces in turn. Hellboy with his glower. Liz with her soulful eyes who wore her heart on her sleeve. Abraham with his tender heart and refined mind. No wonder Kai had been willing to risk her life for them. "You were stabbed by a branch, through the stomach." Liz gasped, clutching the fabric of her shirt tightly in her clenched fist. Her skin turned paler than normal and for a moment Liz thought she would faint. Red pulled her close, now glad that he took the shot. If something had happened to her... He wasn't sure what he would do.

Nuala turned to Abraham, mournful tears brimming her liquid gold eyes. "You, through the heart." She turned to Hellboy and saw the vine that ended his life as clear now as it had been in the vision she observed. "You were strangled."

Hellboy's arms tightened around Liz as she burrowed further into his chest. "Why was what happened different?"

"It changed because we changed." Agent Krauss answered. "From what I understand of seers, as the people in the visions make new decisions, the premonition changes."

Nuala nodded. "In the future I was shown, you all died protecting her after my brother tried to kill her again. She removed herself from the equation and so changed that ending." Nuala's voice began fading, becoming breathy as she fought to take in air. And withing moments she was slumped over in her seat, unconscious.

**Nuada's bedroom several hours later.**

Nuada's head pounded as his eyes flickered open. Something was very wrong. He remembered the exasperating female chained to the wall, and the beautiful picture she made. But after that things became muddled. She had said something about sands, and her eyes had flashed with anger, looking like lightening on storm tossed seas. And he had taken steps toward her, his fingers anxious to feel the skin of her neck, shoulders and face under their pads. Her face had looked like it was kissed by roses and somewhere in the back of his mind he had wondered, was it just as soft as the flower that lent its rich hues to her pallet. But after that, nothing. He couldn't remember anything.

"Oh good you're awake." Kai said putting down one of the few books she had found tucked into a corner near the bedding he was tied on. It seems they had something in common other than the affinity for very sharp weapons. They both read before sleeping and kept their favorites within reach. Her Elven was a bit rusty, but this one seemed he kept a log of the centuries. It was very detailed. Several made her blush and sent ideas skittering off to make nests in the corners of her mind, waiting for the perfect time to come out to play. "I had a couple questions for you."

Nuada glanced at the book in her hands and tried to snatch it away, only to be stopped after less than an inch. He looked at his hands and saw the stout cord that entwined his wrists and spat a curse in Elven. "Now, now, prince. Mind your language." She flipped a page and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Is that even physically possible?" Kai looked him over a second and decided that maybe the position he described in his notes was possible after all. If you had the strength for it. And he looked like he did. "By my count, this year alone you slept with nearly forty fae. And not all of them female. What happened to 'I love Nuala' and all that?"

"None of your business female."Nuada ground out between clenched teeth. How she got the drop on him, he would never understand. That was the second time in as many days!

Kai shrugged, not paying the slightest bit of attention as he struggled against the knots. They were designed to get tighter as he pulled so she wasn't worried. "Suit yourself. I was only curious." Oh my, Kai thought, blushing as she imagined the prince partaking in that, feeling herself grow warm, a knot forming in her core. She tried to imagine her ex in the princes place, but didn't get very far, she had never been interested in sex with anyone she dated in the past so imagining them was a bit like imagining sleeping with her brother. Gross and very disturbing. The prince on the other hand...No, Kai shook her head violently to scatter the images to the four winds. Now was not the time for those thoughts.

Although why she even bothered dating was a curiosity. She'd been engaged to someone her father knew since she was four years old. If she had followed Romani law she would have been married by now, with children of her own. There were times she was glad that she was her father's daughter.

Kai shut the book with a snap and went to fetch the dinner the wonderful Brownies had been kind enough to bring. "Hope you're hungry. The Brownies really outdid themselves." The tray, that she supported with practiced ease as she crept under the staircase, was nearly over flowing with dishes. Mostly vegetables and fruits as it seemed he was a vegetarian. Or maybe it was an elf thing, Kai guessed, seeing her own plates held no meat at all. The bread smelled heavenly, causing her mouth to water in hunger.

"Are you going to release me, so that I may eat as well?" Nuada asked, struggling to sit up in the bed he had been tied in.

"No."Kai placed the platter down next to him before taking a seat his side so that she could feed them both. "I much prefer not waking up in pain again." She pulled the large slaver to her knees and plucked the two glasses and what looked like a decanter full of a fragrant red wine from its center. "They told me the name of this drink but I'm afraid I've forgotten it." Kai poured carefully before holding it to his lips. "I haven't poisoned it." She said when he didn't drink. "That would be an insult to the chef. Besides if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."

Still Nuada refused to drink. "Listen Silverlance, you can play nice, or you can play mean. But I promise you, you are going to play." She took a sip from his glass. "See? Not poisoned." She held it back to his lips waiting for him to finally drink. "Now here's what we,"she pointed to herself and then him, "are going to do. I will feed you. You will talk. The more you talk, the sooner I will release you. Then I will tell you where Nuala is. Deal?"

Nuada sipped reluctantly, soothing his parched throat. "It's a wine made in Bethmoora. Used traditionally for celebrations. Weddings and the like."

Kai smiled, her eyes lighting up like the sky on clear summer days. She was happy, despite the fact that she had to nearly threaten him to talk. "Thank you for sharing that with me." Her smile dropped slowly, still holding his gaze. "You know everyone needs to talk sometimes. Even you. I'll listen if you feel like it." She quickly turned back to the plates that she had spread out for their impromptu picnic, not giving him time to dwell on her offer. If he wanted to take her up on her offer, he would. "Now we have some dishes I recognize and others I don't. Do you know them all?"

Nuada shook his head. Some he had never seen before in his life. The Brownies must have gone all out for their guest. He never really ate food that needed much preparation. It was just simpler not to. The one she was busy cutting into was one that he had to question, it was a pepper filled with spices and cheese that dripped as she pulled it away from the plate.

"Do you know this one?" Nuada shook his head no, as she slipped a bite between her lips, moaning as the flavor coated her tongue. "It's called Chili Rellenos." She held a small piece of the dish before his lips and waited until he took it. "Like it?" He nodded once as she brought another bite to his lips. "Good."

Oil dripped on his bare chest making him realize that all of his clothes had been removed during his rest. What he also noticed was that she acted as if nothing was wrong, as if it was natural to eat while naked. "Sorry." She murmured after that dish was finished, looking for a towel or napkin to clean him off. "I don't think they thought about food when they undressed you."

"They?" Nuada asked, realizing that she would most likely see his questions as attempts at conversation. And that, it seemed, would work in his favor quite nicely.

"The Brownies thought you would be more comfortable sleeping without binding clothing." In truth, fire danced through her veins seeing him like this, spread and bare. But her own iron will prevented her from blushing like the virgin she was. With embarrassment or desire she wasn't sure which but in the end it mattered little. "I apologize if you're embarrassed."

"Embarrassment is a human failing." Nuada growled. "And I have nothing to be ashamed of."

True enough, Kai assented silently picking up the next dish. "We call this Vegetarian Paella."

"We have a different name for it." Nuada stretched, feeling his bonds dig further into his skin as she brought another mouthful of food to his lips. "It's eaten mainly by the working classes. But it was my father's favorite. He said it reminded him of mother. It was the only dish she ever learned how to cook despite the fact that the kitchen was her favorite room in the castle."It was as if the events of the past days and her offer to listen had cracked a dam's wall, words flowing out like gushing water. He smiled, unknowing that he did, slightly at the memory of his mother hiding among the chefs and kitchen staff, away from the court intrigue that she couldn't stand. Father had taken to joining her when things had gotten tiresome. And when his mother had died, his father continued to hide in the corner of the kitchen she had taken over to feel closer to her.

"From what I understand, she was a very kind and loving queen. You must miss her very much."

"You know nothing human." Nuada snarled, realizing what that he had let one of the few good memories he had left slip from his lips, uncaring that she winced at his words as much as at the venom they contained. "You are as greedy and black hearted as the rest of your race."

Kai blinked back the tears in her eyes that threatened to fall for him. After years and centuries, he was still in mourning for his lost parent. And his grief was now compounded by losing everything else he cared for. "There is good to be seen if you would bother to look, prince." Kai fed them both silently for the rest of the meal and after it was finished, removed the dishes just as quietly before leaving him to his thoughts.

Mute tears fell as he remembered the past that had so much influence on the present. Good, wholesome times that had ended with one thoughtless act. Light and love eclipsed by greed and blackness. And the echoes were still felt today. Each death was listed in their place and remembered to be honored later. Mother, father, sister, and friends each lost to this never ending battle. Nuala might not be dead, but she may as well be. He fell into a restless sleep, these thoughts and many more still plaguing his mind.

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters.**

Nuala blushed happily at Abraham's nervous conversation. He was so unlike anyone she had ever known. Ma'am he had called her, unsure of how to address her. It made her feel giddy, even weak at the knees to feel his gentle adoration. And that was why she felt the need to close off those pleasant emotions. Nuada would never stop searching for her, never stop looking for the crown piece that rested in her possession. He wouldn't hesitate to remove any impediment, human or otherworldly. Anything that got in his way would soon breathe their last.

She made her way back to the rooms the human organization had kindly provided her with, ache filling her heart, as if it rent itself in two. Her only hope was that the words of an ancient prophet would ring true. _"Princess, if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."_

Her pillow had never before seemed so welcoming as it did now, when it alone was the silent witness to her tears for her brother and those lost to this senseless hostility. Each loss as vivid and real to her as if it had been happened only a moment ago. She lay, for hours it seemed, sorting through conflicting feelings and clashing emotions. Her own were fairly straight forward. These must be from somewhere else.

Nuada? Possibly. But it felt as if he hadn't left the market yet. Kai had done it. She had kept her word. She bought Nuala and the team to hide the crown piece and for Nuala to go to ground. And still Nuala sat in this glorified bunker because of bureaucratic nonsense and red tape. It was slowly driving her batty. She was jumping slightly with every tick of the analog clock, each noise set her nerves a little more on edge. She hated being stuck, unable to make a move without someone watching her.

A fist rapped quickly on her door causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. "Princess, dinner is served." It was Abraham. "And Liz asked if you would like to watch a movie with us later." Nuala walked to the door and pulled it open, only a crack. Abraham's blue eyes blinked at her from behind his water filled goggles. "I think she's chosen a romance about talking cats. Red is partial to cats and Liz doesn't feel like watching anything violent. If you'd like to join us, you are more than welcome to."

"What is a movie?"

**Nuada's bedroom two hours later**

A band of warmth encircled Nuada's waist and a weight pressed against his shoulder as he yawned, pulling away from the slumber that wanted to pull him back within its comforting warmth. The air around him smelled of the turbulent sea, the warm summer rains that swept the moors of Ireland during his childhood, sun kissed lavender, and spicy sage. Both calming and invigorating at the same time. He tried to curl into the weight that seemed to be the source of the calming memories and scent, only to find he was still tied. He jerked, fully awake within a moment.

"What are you doing laying on me!" He yelled jerking again, trying to shove the sleeping female off his side.

Kai snuggled closer. "You were having nightmares." She yawned, her heated breath sending bolts of electric desire down his spine to pool in his groin. "I couldn't get you to calm down. When I tried to wake you up, you pulled me down and wouldn't let go. Now I'd like to sleep if you don't mind. Good night." Kai promptly fell asleep still wrapped around Nuada like a monkey. Years of grabbing sleep where and when she could, because she never knew when she would see her next nap, trained her to be able to fall asleep anywhere. Even if it meant sleeping on top of a spoiled and furious prince.

He smirked, snuggling into her warm body. Who was he to turn down a decently beautiful female who wanted to sleep with him? Even if it wasn't anything more than sleep. And even if she was human. She did smell really good though. Her skin was as soft as he thought it was, Nuada thought with a smirk blowing air through her hair. If she was fae, he wouldn't hold back from acting on the impulses that coursed through his muscles. If she was fae...

"Stop thinking. It's bad for sleeping." She murmured, kissing his chest lightly. "Think tomorrow. It's sleeping time now." Jada Kai nibbled at his nipple causing him to groan with want. Kai fought back a knowing smile. She had read everything in his journal. "Sleep Nuada. Yell at me tomorrow." She pushed the hair that had worked its way over his face, behind his ears gently, brushing the tips of his ears accidentally. He groaned again at the sensation that coursed through him like a wave. She just hit every button she could and didn't pull any punches, Nuada realized abruptly.

It wasn't just that she was manipulating him, that much was obvious, but also the fact that she would put most of the conniving courtiers to shame. It was that she was honest about it, she didn't attempt to hide her manipulation, as much as that may sound like an oxymoron, he may not know much about her, but he did know she wouldn't play the sex card if she didn't mean it. He couldn't explain how he knew that, but he did. And somehow those facts made her more desirable and trustworthy., if she was an elf, he corrected. If he were not tied up, Nuada added to himself, there would not be a thing in this world that could stop him, except maybe the teasing woman herself, from taking her up on this offer. And the fact that she was not an elf, he reminded himself again.

Diabhal an fates agus an deithe le cheile. The gods had a twisted sense of humor. "Get off."

Kai yawned, shifting slightly, the straw digging into her side. "Sleepy." Kai twisted to lay across his chest, her legs straddling his own, trapping his growing hardness at the apex of the thighs. "Much better." She pulled the light blanket over her shoulders and Nuada beneath her. His skin felt cool underneath her own. In the moments before sleep overcame her she wondered how he wasn't shivering in the chilled air. Like marble, she thought, fighting another yawn and losing. With one last kiss on his shoulder, she fell asleep.

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters**

Nuala had curled up in Abe's arms about half way through the movie. It had been a long day, she thought falling asleep her face buried in his neck.

As the ending credits rolled, Abe gallantly picked her up, swinging her awkwardly into his arms. It was a thoughtful gesture and one that hadn't gone unnoticed as he awkwardly punched the code for her door into the keypad, nearly dropping her in the process. After depositing her on her coverlet, Abe turned to leave her to her sleep, when Nuala held his arm.

He was nothing like Nuada, she thought comparing the two. Not possessive. Not demanding. Just warm and caring. He would never push her into doing anything she didn't want to. He acted like just noticing he existed was a gift. "Abraham." Nuala swallowed nervously. And that one small thing gave her a freedom she had never known before. Suddenly there was one thing she could give him, that she wanted him to have, that no other in the world would ever possess.

Abe turned back to her. "Is there something I can do for you, princess?"

Nuala took his hand in her own, trying to reassure herself that the decision she had been struggling with since he had showed up at her door earlier, was correct. And all she saw when she touched him was peace, calm, soothing, peace and affection that even he didn't know what to do with because it was colored with a need he didn't understand. With that one look she knew she was right. "Stay."

"Princess?" Abraham questioned.

Nuala smiled, feeling his heart race under his blue skin. "Stay," she repeated, pulling herself to her knees, only inches away from the one that she desired. "With me." Her eyes begged, seeing him waver between what he thought was right and what he truly wanted. "Please."

Abraham's response surprised no one more than himself. He kissed her. Pulling her close and barely releasing her long enough for either to shed the layers that lay between them.

* * *

><p>Translations and quotations and notes:<p>

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. = Bible book of Mark chapter 3 verse 25

The movie Abe invites Nuala to watch is Aristocats by Disney. Thank you Disney.

Diabhal an fates agus an deithe le cheile. (Elven/ Irish Gaelic) = Damn the fates and the gods together.


	8. Chapter 7 Would you?

Short chapter this time guys. As usual I own nothing but Jada Kai Gry, Mara Gry and, Beriothien.

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><p>Chapter 7 Would you?<p>

Recap:

Abraham's response surprised no one more so than himself. He kissed her. Pulling her close and barely releasing her long enough for either to shed the layers that lay between them.

**Nuada's Bedchamber the next morning**

Kai pulled the blanket that had somehow worked its way down to her hips, back to her shoulders, mumbling at the noise that had woken her up, "Five more minutes." She hadn't moved from the position she fell asleep in the previous night, finding it very comfortable and warm. Her fertile imagination had worked over time last night, providing intimate and provocative images of a male who's face reminded her of the, what was he again, she thought tiredly, prince? No, it had to be one of the generic noblemen her father had introduced on her rare visits. She didn't know any princes. Right?

Kai stretched lazily, frowning slightly at her hard bed. Was she at the caravans again? "Tell me I didn't fall asleep in the stables again?" She muttered, tying to find a more comfortable place to curl into for the rest of her sleep.

"No," Nuada growled underneath her. "You fell asleep on me!"

Kai jumped, remembering where she was, causing the blanket to fall back to her waist without her notice. "Oh." She didn't move from off him. "Well. I'm still sleeping. Goodnight."

Nuada twisted his hips trying to relieve the pressure she placed on them. He had never thought about the similarities between elven males and human males. Preferring instead to think only of their differences. But the real differences were few and far between. Physiologically they differed only in strength, stamina, speed, and a few minor nerve clusters. And Kai had been stroking several in her sleep most of the night. He had woken up several times through the night, each time more aflame with desire through her nearly constant unconscious seduction.

"Get off." He ordered once again.

Kai sighed. "You really aren't going to let me go back to sleep, are you?" One look at his stern face and she had her answer. "Well if you don't mind I think I'll find a shower." Kai stood and climbed off his exposed form with a cheeky smile tugging at her naturally rosy lips. "And prince? You owe me a dinner." Kai disappeared without another word, only laughter following in her wake.

The night before, the Brownies had kindly shown her the bathing quarters. Just as it had hours ago, the room stunned her into silence. Copper pipes lined the ceiling, one leaking water in a constant shower, the edges a fine spray that moistened the uneven stone walls around it, allowing the stone to become a veritable garden of mosses and water loving flowers that grew despite the lack of sunshine due to the constant flow of otherworldly magic that twined and twisted through their delicate fronds.

The water continued down over stone steps to gather in a deep pool. So deep and wide the Kai guessed, rather amused, he could quite easily entertain at least three of his paramours at the same time. The water glittered, lighted by the candles and torches that were constantly burning, both day and night. When the pool filled, it overflowed into storm drains, completely hidden from the humans that patrolled the sewers by a powerful glamour.

Kai had at first been nervous about using the room but several kindly water sprites offered to keep look out for her. Warning her when a human approached, even though they could neither see nor hear anything beyond the mystical boundary.

The Brownies brought her small tubs filled with Fae made soaps and oils as she eased her battered and sore body into the magically warmed water. Forgotten bites of tiny Tooth Fairies stung as the water hit them. Bruises that she had forgotten, suddenly made themselves known with a vengeance, causing her to groan with each new ache.

Kai dipped her fingers into one of the tubs, a pleasant tingling erupting where ever the soap touched. "Oh nice." Kai purred spreading it over her skin, working it into her aching muscles and joints.

Her groans carried back along the passageways to the trussed Nuada. Who's imagination took to flight with each grunt and groan she released, causing one of his members to grow hard and stand at attention. Did she even realize what she was doing? He wondered. At times he would say yes. But at others he would say no. This was one of the times he would answer yes. Most definitely.

**Nuala's bedroom. B.P.R.D. Headquarters**

"Abraham." Nuala laughed as he pulled her back beneath the covers. "I must bathe before breakfast."

Abe's eyes snapped open at her words. And the picture they presented. "Am I invited?"

Nuala pulled from the bed before looking back over her shoulder. "Absolutely." Walking away it was her hips that riveted his attention. Flowing like gentle waves on the seashore, they were one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. "Coming?" Nuala asked disappearing behind the bathroom wall.

Abe quickly thanked his lucky stars before chasing after her, catching her around the waist. His hand cupping her breast and mound, stunned that she was already wet and waiting for him. "I think we're going to be late for breakfast."

Nuala moaned, pulling his mouth down on her own. "Yes." She nipped lightly at his bottom lip, sucking gently at the skin, feeling him swell behind her. "Very, very late."

**Nuada's bedchamber**

Nuada groaned as he felt his sisters arousal, fanning the embers of his own as Kai walked back, dripping water from every surface as she searched for something to wear.

Kai licked her lips, watching him from under the veil of her hair. He was one fine looking male, if he wasn't such a pain, Kai decided. She mentally chided herself, she was here on a mission. To lust after the stubborn male was not in the stars. That was an woeful waste of a male, she decided. It's doubtful but if the opportunity presented itself, I'm not going to turn it down. It's not like I will have to worry about any awkwardness in a few days anyway. An idea sprang to her mind, causing her to smile wickedly behind her hair as she found his discarded shirt.

She carefully padded over the straw to his side, her breasts drawing his attention like magnets as they swung freely with her steps. Her nose wrinkled comically, as she sniffed the air around him. "You need a bath, prince."

"Are you going to release me?" He growled, unsure of exactly what he would do if she did.

Kai leaned close to his ear, his shirt billowing out from her slight frame, allowing him to look straight to her center. "Want to give me a reason I should?" Kai asked, her tongue teasing the upper ridge of his ear. "You're such a tempting prospect, all tied up. If you're nice, I might feel generous and give you a sponge bath." She pulled back, her mouth barely inches from his lips. "Interested?" She licked her lips, her eyes flicking up to look into his furious, molten, gold orbs.

"And allow your disgusting visage within my presence a moment longer?" He spat, praying to every god he believed in that she would back up, with a snarl still plastered on his face. "No." And begged any god who bothered to listen to him for their forgiveness for his lie. Deceit was beneath him, he knew that. Lying was a human failing, and he hated having to resort to it.

"Wow Silverlance," Kai almost cooed, not giving ground. "If I had any feelings left, they'd be hurt." She smiled, closing the distance a centimeter more.

The gods had turned a deaf ear it seemed. Nuada lunged in to capture her mouth but missed as Kai pulled back. Growling deep within his chest, he tugged at his bonds, annoyed at the mixed messages. "I suggest you release me then."

Kai laughed, heading for the massive stone staircase. "What? And ruin all my fun?" She began climbing the steps, leaning over as she reached the point where she could look right down at him. "You must be joking." And the gods be merciful, he got a flash of what lay directly under his shirt as she straightened back up. "Silly elf." She waved down at him. "Be right back, Silverlance." Kai couldn't resist a saucy wink before she began walking up the stairs again. "Don't go away."

He tugged at the rope on his right wrist, reminding her that he was still bound. "Not likely." He mumbled as her steps retreated. One of the Brownies chose that moment to appear, both of its heads snickering to itself. "Do you have any sense at all?"

They continued laughing. Muttering quietly, "Nil me ag an duine ata ceangailte suas."

"Release me." Nuada ordered.

"Ne feidir linn." The Brownie laughed. "Cosc ar an ri na Riochta lochtarach se go dti an orduithe a seer do scaoileadh."

It skipped happily back to the hole in his wall that it occupied, as Kai walked down the steps chuckling. Heavier steps followed her light ones. But even the second set was soft and furtive. "Yes my lord. Anything you say my lord."

"Kai, you know I didn't mean it like that." Nuada recognized King Auberon's deep baritone voice as it echoed down to him. He looked down quickly at his state of undress, not even hearing the third set of footsteps in his panic. "I only meant that a lady does not wear that to greet guests."

"No." Kai gasped in mock distress. "Really? I didn't know that." Her voice neared the bottom of the steps when it stopped and Nuada heard her turn toward the King of the Lower Fae Kingdom. "I suppose you think I should be dressed for court at all times." Auberon began to reply when Kai stopped him. "No, save it. I trained as a warrior, so I dress as one, normally. I happened to be dressed in this because I spent the night very comfortably with the Prince of the Upper Kingdom and the Brownies kindly offered to launder my clothes. This was the only decent thing I could find. Now if you'll excuse me I'll make sure the prince is decent to receive guests of state."

Kai heard her father mutter, "That's my girl," under his breath as she turned away.

Nuada was straining at the ropes that held him fast. "Are you going to release me now?" He hissed. His muscles bulging under the tension.

Kai crawled up Nuada's length, blowing hot air over every inch she crossed. "King Auberon knows exactly what's going on, Silverlance." Kai smiled wickedly as part of him jumped under her breathe. "Besides, I guarantee he'd understand." The tiny whorl of his belly button was too tempting to pass up without a little taste, she decided dipping her tongue quickly into his navel, then tracing his skin along the his muscles. "Hmmm," Kai hummed. "Yummy."

"Kai!" King Auberon shouted when he grew impatient.

Kai took in Nuada's hungered gaze and seized to moment to kiss him forcefully. "That's to mark my place," she told him tugging the crimson blanket into place over him. "Ta se reidh, mo Ri."She called turning to collect breakfast for them both from the Brownies while Auberon and Nuada talked.

"I understand you ordered me bound until a seer released me?" Nuada said challenge rampant in his tone. It wasn't unheard of a king from one fae court giving orders to the subjects of the other kingdom, but as far as Nuada could remember, the law allowing it had never been applied to a prince. Granted, he was the only prince within several thousand years. There had been rumors circulating that Auberon finally had an heir but it was supposed to be female, and still a child, the last time he had bothered listening to court gossip.

"I ordered nothing."Auberon countered. "I agreed with the seer and reinforced their decision. Nothing more." He smiled, picking up one of Kai's many knives. She never changed it seemed, years had only made her harder, sharper, faster. He remembered this one, picking up a plain blade. She was thirteen, Auberon guessed, when she won this knife in combat. The drow who accompanied him had lost more than his knife that day.

"Then allow me to speak to this seer." Nuada stared at them both in turn, glaring as if that alone would make them rethink leaving him bound.

"You have." Auberon chuckled. It wasn't so long ago that he was in this arrogant prince's place, although for a completely different matter. "Speaking to her now will change nothing." He placed the knife carefully where he found it before turning back to the prince. "I actually came to tell you of your father's successor. He chose Nuala as interim Queen until you were fit to rule." Auberon leaned back against stone stairs that divided the bed chamber from the rest of the room. "His directions are that until you give up this Golden army scheme, you are not to be crowned. The seer will tell us when, or if. If it becomes evident that you are not fit to be king, then the crown and your titles pass to your offspring."

"I have already spoken to this seer?" He thought for a moment. He had spoken to no one new. Wait, Kai. "You mean Jada Kai. The seer is Kai?"

Auberon didn't answer, his normally stoic face betraying nothing of the jovial heart that lay beneath. "The seer says she can't release you until the correct time." Old king Balor knew what he was doing when he planned this day years ago, Auberon decided. Cagey old man."I'm leaving the Drow here to help Kai with you," he said picking idly at the dirt beneath his nails. "After all, I wouldn't want you overpowering the little lass." He heard a growl from somewhere off behind him. Kai's sensitive ears had picked it up without a problem. "Well, I'll be going." Auberon jumped, remembering Kai's direction from earlier.

"Kai! I'm going!" Auberon called pulling a tiny flute from his sleeve and blowing a jaunty tune while bounding up the stairs. "I'll say hello to your mother when I see her, shall I?"

Kai rolled her eyes as she brought out yet another platter of food. "You do that." The platter was filled with mainly fruit this time.

Nuada's eyes went wide, realizing that she would have to feed him by hand. "Kai release me." Kai only placed the platter down at his side, moving close to feed him.

"Beriothien," Kai called to the warrior that King Auberon left behind, "the Bownies have prepared food for you. I'll yell if the prince gets out of hand." The dark drow nodded without a word and strode to find the Brownies. His powerful steps eating up the ground as silently as the night consumed the day. No sooner was he out of sight than Kai turned back to her prisoner, her face blank. Her normal smile missing, only sobriety fused itself into her cheeks. "If it was time for you to go free, I would let you go. Simple as that."

"And when will that be?"Nuada took a segment of orange from Kai's fingers, sucking lightly at her skin when the juices began running down her wrist. "When I give up my plan for the golden army?"

"I am not a fool, Nuada." Kai chided. "I no more expect you to give up that plan, than I expect the sun to stop rising each morning. Even if it will cause billions of innocent deaths." She reached for the knife from the tray and began slicing fruit into little pieces.

"So what side are you on? You certainly don't seem to hate fae like the rest of your kind."He said, straining for the slice of Starfruit that she held between her fingers, pale green juice staining the tips of her digits.

"What does it matter?" Kai asked holding it just out of his reach.

"It matters what side you fight on."

Kai cast him a scathing look, "I have no side." The slice of fruit disappeared between her lips. "The only thing worth fighting for, is to save lives, and just maybe to make life a little easier for the people who come after us."

"You're just like Nuala." He spat trying to turn away from her. "Always playing both sides. Speaking of saving her people but willing to offer them up as a sacrifice to please human masters. She is a traitor to her people and deserves no better than a traitor's lot. You are no better."

Without thinking Kai slapped him as hard as she could."Nuala was willing to give her life for whom and what she believes in." Kai's heart broke for him. "To save her people! But you are too blind to see it." Kai's voice almost snapped as she contemplated, how easily he collected pain, when he didn't see the true meaning of other's actions. "Would you?" She asked suddenly.

Nuada looked as if he was about to spit fire. "Would I what?"

"Be willing to die for someone or something you believe in?"Kai looked at him earnestly, almost becoming lost in his turbulent eyes. "Or for someone you love?"

"Yes."

"I pray that is so prince."Kai licked her lips nervously before turning back to the tray of food, picking a bun off one of the plates and tearing it into little pieces. "And I hope you never have to make that choice."

Her ire was as quick to fade as the morning dew from before the sunshine's bright rays. By the time she turned back around, a smile was evident in her eyes, as if someone had just told her a silly joke that made her light up from the inside. "Now can we be friends and finish eating, then maybe a shower and if you're nice, do some training?"She held a bite of the still moist and steaming, fresh baked bread a breath away from his mouth. "Can't have you getting any slower, old man."

Nuada's mouth dropped open in surprise at how she could go from furious to laughing in less time than a butterfly flapped its wings, allowing Kai to pop the morsel of bread inside. "Now you chew, Silverlance." She tapped his chin with her forefinger. "Because I'd like to kiss you again. But this time, you have to tell me I can."

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters Cafeteria **

Nuala and Abraham strode hand in hand through the cafeteria doors, trying to look inconspicuous, but unwilling to release the small connection.

"Abe!"Hellboy waved him over! "Nuala!"He picked up his first beer of the day and chugged half of the can's contents within his first swallow.

Liz scooted her chair closer to HB, making sure Nuala and Abe had enough room around the crowded table. "Come. Sit." She cleared the empty plates, stacking them on table behind her. "Manning was just about to yell at us some more." Liz smiled, before turning back to Agents Manning and Krauss, letting her smile drop as he shoved a slice of bacon into her mouth. Giving herself the excuse to chew instead of answering any foolish questions Manning asked. He had already used up his quotient of stupid this morning, in her opinion. And one more stupid comment would make her lose her temper.

"Princess Nuala,"Agent Krauss greeted. "I hope you had a most pleasant sleep."

Nuala smiled shyly, not quite willing to reveal how pleasant a night it truly was. "Yes I did. Thank you."

"Good, good."Manning beamed as if he was they sole reason for her answer. "I was just informing the group that since they failed to capture your brother, and gaining any intelligence whatsoever, we're now flying blind."

Nuala turned a questioning glance to Abraham. "He means, princess, that we have no plan of action." Nuala nodded, her lips forming a perfect o. "We're not even sure how much time we have before your brother arrives, or for that matter where the army is to prepare a second line of defense."

Nuala twisted the fabric of her dress sleeves around her fingers. "I cannot help with the location of the Golden Army."She frowned, thinking of the map tube her father had carefully hidden, only blank paper concealed within. But I can tell you we have time before my brother arrives. Your friend Kai is keeping him busy for the moment. But it is only a matter of time until he finds me."

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><p>Translations, quotes, and notes:<p>

Nil me ag an duine ata ceangailte suas. (Elven/ Irish Gaelic) = I am not the one who is tied up.

Ne feidir linn. (Elven/I.G.) =We cannot.

Cosc ar an ri na Riochta lochtarach se go dti an orduithe a seer do scaoileadh. (Elven/I.G.) = The King of the Lower Kingdom forbids it until the seer orders your release.

Ta se reidh, mo Ri. (Elven/ I.G.)= He's ready, my King.

Beriothien (Elven)= William (protector)


	9. Chapter 8 Hits and Misses

Sorry to have taken so long to get this updated. Had a lot on my plate. Fell in love. Lost it through my own crap. My father was diagnosed with cancer again. Second time in 3 months. So yeah. Here's the next chapter. As usual I do not own Hellboy or the cannon characters. Don't sue. And let me know if you like the chapter. I cant fix something if I don't know its wrong.

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><p>Chapter 8 Hits and Misses<p>

Recap:

Nuala twisted the fabric of her dress sleeves around her fingers. "I cannot help with the location of the Golden Army."She frowned, thinking of the map tube her father had carefully hidden, only blank paper concealed within. But I can tell you we have time before my brother arrives. Your friend Kai is keeping him busy for the moment. But it is only a matter of time until he finds me."

**Nuada's bedchamber **

"Beriothien,"Kai called after breakfast was over. "Feel up to some training?" Beriothien strode into the living area, his dark face still blank and empty. He ducked under the stairs after smacking his skull against the stone, glaring at her angrily. "Oh suck it up, you big baby. You barely bumped." Kai laughed, feeling his menacing glare on her back. "Help me untie him."

Beriothien looked disapprovingly at the trussed up royal, clicking his tongue in reprimand. He didn't speak, but his disappointment was evident. What were the kingdoms coming to, if the heir to the Fae High Court could be so easily bound?

"Do you have something to say, Drow?" Nuada snarled as the ropes loosened at his ankles, his dark thoughts calculating all manner of possibilities for retribution to be delivered once he was freed.

"Beriothien," Kai cast her eyes downward, her warm honey cheeks colored mildly, rose tones turning her pink under Nuada's scrutiny. "Doesn't talk."

"At all?"

The dark elf tapped Kai's arm, insuring her silence. Kai nodded, understanding his silent meaning, her brow furrowed in frustration when the knot at Nuada's wrist refused to untangle. "You tried to get out of these, didn't you?"

Beriothien snorted angrily finding his knot just as difficult to release.

"You're right,"she answered his unspoken comment. "He is a stupid elf." Nuada refused to meet their eyes as they tugged at the unforgiving ropes that dug into his skin. The ties groaned softly as Kai eased the strain on the cords. "Patience certainly isn't your strong suit, Silverlance."

No sooner did the rope that Kai worked on fall away, then Nuada launched his fist at her, catching her squarely in the jaw, payback for the slap from yesterday. Kai's head snapped to the side, teeth cutting into her cheek and tongue, blood erupting into her mouth. Kai's dark curly hair fell like a curtain hiding her reaction from the world. Beriothien held his breath, waiting for Kai's swift retaliation that he knew was gnawing at her core. Nuada froze, not in fear, but because he knew that Kai would strike back.

Kai probed the inside of her mouth calmly, the jagged edges, cut by her teeth oozing blood infusing the taste of copper into the saliva that coated her tongue. She squeezed her eyes shut as she determined the extent of the damage. Serious, she decided, but not life threatening. She would have to be careful not to open her mouth too far when the wounds sealed, or her cheek would ooze again. Painful and serious, but not debilitating.

Kai cast a scathing glance at the waiting prince as she turned to the corner, cold fury simmering beneath her ashen tanned face. Pain, it was something she was more than used to, at least the physical kind. But why did her heart hurt? Was it his anger and pain that she felt within her soul? Or was it something that she didn't have a name for? None of the names she had fit correctly. No, she wouldn't put a name on the emotions that spun through her. Not yet. She knew hurt. She knew disappointment. But this? This was new.

Kai spat the blood from her mouth away and wiped at her lips with the back of her hand. Red smeared across her skin. Within the blink of an eye, Kai made a decision. If he wanted her to get angry, she would. But on her time, in the place she decided, and how she wanted to. She turned back to the prince, her eyes filling with the barest shadow of the rage she held within like a forest fire, already blazing and panting for release.

And for possibly the first time in his life, Nuada knew what fear tasted like, as her green eyes held him in thrall. It bit into him like acid. Nuada launched his fist back at her, hoping only to wipe that look from her eyes.

The furious woman caught his hand in her fingers and began to squeeze. Kai didn't even blink as she stared at him, clenching his knuckles, grinding them with almost unbearable pressure. "Hit me again, even try to when we aren't training or fighting to the death, and you will lose this hand." She bore down more on his bones. "Am I understood?" She asked, her voice dark and promising. "Answer me. Am I understood?"

He didn't answer. He didn't have to. She knew what he was fighting not to show. Fighting not to lose face. Fighting not to lose his self-respect. But her aim wasn't to break his spirit, to tear him into pieces, but to smooth out his rough patches, to soothe his tired, aching, bruised and battered soul. "Then let's get ready to train." She released him and moved away to dress and stretch before collecting her weapons.

"Do you know Kai well?" Nuada asked Beriothien.

The dark elf nodded.

"Is she always..." Nuada rubbed the feeling back into his hands.

Beriothien nodded vigorously before the prince even finished his sentence.

"Then I have no hope."

Beriothien nodded again, sighing softly.

"Should I just give up?"

Beriothien smiled wolfishly, his meaning becoming clear as he shook his head slowly. Don't give in too easily. Make this at least a little fun for me to watch. Give Kai a run for her money, if you can.

"Very well then." Nuada stood, each muscle tensing and releasing with the easy grace of a predator. "Let's see just how skilled she is." He flung open the chests that contained his clothes, swiftly sliding them over his skin as he found them.

**B.P.R.D Headquarters. Hellboy and Liz's quarters. **

Liz was laying on her side, twisting her fingers through the soft fur of one of the many kittens that shared their room, flipping through the pages of a magazine. The magazine's glossy pages showed pictures of mothers holding laughing babies, and Liz swallowed nervously. She should tell Red. She knew that. But every time she tried forming the words to tell him, or even thought about it, her stomach twisted nervously, her heart began pounding, and her head started throbbing.

The kitten grew bored with her petting and stood to climb up her side and onto her shoulder. "Hey, what do you think of this crib?" Liz asked the tiny furred creature that licked her ear with its rough tongue.

The little cat purred, his whole body vibrating. "Yeah. I like it too," Liz said, wiggling her fingers in front of the cats face. The tiny kitten batted playfully at her, never catching her, but having fun nonetheless. "But where would we put it?" The kitten meowed softly in response. A question evident in his voice. He had no clue.

"You and me both, kitty. You and me both." Liz jumped, hearing Hellboy open the door yelling at the agent who followed him like a puppy dog. She stuffed the magazine under the mattress before he saw it and cuddled her kitten conspirator. "Don't say a word kitty or I'll turn you into lunch. Nice charbroiled feline." She smiled, nuzzling the ball or fur and fluff.

"Liz!" Hellboy called, his face dissolving into a goofy grin, as if just being around her made the world a better place. He had no idea what those unguarded moments meant to her. No clue that sometimes, his smile was the only reason she stayed. "Liz." He advanced on the bed where she lay, still stretched out, moving the cat from where he lay curled on a ball on her stomach. "Sorry," he murmured, before setting the kitten gently on the bed. "But now is my time."

The kitten threw him a scathing look before hopping off the bed. He understood when he wasn't wanted. Liz chuckled, twining her hands in Hellboy's shirt, pulling him down on top of her. "I was wondering when you would get back."

Hellboy growled possessively, nipping at her lower lip, grinding against her core. "I was getting yelled at." His lips sank down to her jaw. "Manning."

Liz groaned as he attacked the sensitive skin beneath her jaw with his mouth. "That is one of the names I never want to hear while we're in bed."

"Agreed." Red sucked at one of the spots he knew made Liz wet within moments, grinning to himself as Liz bucked underneath him, wrapping her legs around his broad back, locking her ankles together around his hips. "What did the doctor say when you saw him?" Liz groaned in frustration when Red stopped moving, holding her on the edge until she answered, knowing that she never would tell him otherwise.

"Red..." Liz begged.

Red rubbed against her softly and then pulled back as Liz began whimpering in need. "I'm not gonna move until you answer me."

"He said I was fine." She gasped.

Hellboy cocked an eyebrow at her. "That's not all he said," he traced her lip and the tiny twitch that gave her lie away with the tip of his finger. "I know that twitch. What else did he say?"

Liz tried pulling the rock of a man harder against her, but he refused to move. She groaned, annoyance flooding her. "We have to do this now?" Red nodded. "Fine! He said I'm anemic and haven't been eating correctly. He said vitamin supplements, better diet, iron, and a couple of other things. Nothing big. Happy now?" She tugged him closer and was relieved when Red resumed his position between her thighs. "Can we get back to what we were about to do?"

"Gladly." Red grinned wolfishly, yanking his shirt off and throwing it across the room, to land on several furious cats. He scooted himself down her body to her stomach, unbuckling Liz's jeans as he went. Red pushed her black shirt up and kissed her taunt belly tenderly.

Liz's heart slammed into her ribs. Did he know what lay beneath his lips, separated only by inches or so of muscle, skin, and tissue? "Red..." Liz moaned.

Red smiled, pushing up her shirt farther up, over her lace covered breasts. "Do you ever think about kids, Liz?" Liz stiffened under him, so he apologized quickly thinking that the idea was displeasing to her. "I wouldn't want to have kids with me either." He refused to meet her eyes, fearing the distaste he knew must be there at his question. "They'd be just as good looking and get into all kinds of trouble." He pulled away when Liz still didn't say anything, his heart breaking as each second passed. "I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up."

Tears sprang into Liz's eyes. No she still wasn't ready to tell him the truth. But that question gave her hope. "Red, wait." She pulled him back down. "Don't say anything until I'm done, okay?" She held his face between her hands, her thumbs gently brushing over his lips. "I love you, more than anything. But until recently I hadn't even thought about having kids. It's a big decision. Can you give me a few days to think about it, please?"

Hellboy's face lit up. She hadn't said no. She hadn't said get lost. She was actually thinking about it. "That wasn't a no."

"When have I ever said no?"She smirked. "And actually made it stick?" She kissed him until they both had to pull away to breathe. "In the meantime, you and I can get some practice on the making kids thing, and to do that we're both overdressed." She pulled her shirt the rest of the way off. "Mind helping me with the rest?"

Red grinned, yanking her jeans off and leaving her in only her underwear. Black lace against her pale skin, making his mouth water in desire. "Liz..." HellBoy growled, taking one of Liz's turgid nipples in his mouth, causing Liz buck under him again, grinding against his length. "Do that much more and I won't last as long as we'd like babe."

Liz hastily unbuckled the leather belt at her lover's waist. "Don't get out of these clothes and there won't be more." She pushed his leather pants past his hips and gasped. He hadn't bothered to wear boxers again today. "Red..."

Hellboy ran a finger under the edge of her underwear. She had given up wearing anything but thongs less than days after they began sharing each other's bodies. Red made a mental note to buy her more, he never seemed to be patient enough to remove them carefully. More than likely, they were ripped off, ending up in his collection. "Should I keep you on edge?" Liz keened as HellBoy's fingers spread her folds, dancing along her nub lightly. "Or should I drive you over it?" He increased the pressure until she shook with pleasure.

"Red..." Liz pleaded as he resumed his feather light touches. "Don't make me beg."

"But I like it when you beg."

"Red..."

Hellboy moved back up the length of her body, capturing her lips and lining himself up to end their agony. He kissed her lips tenderly, thrusting into her, capturing her pleasured scream before driving them both higher.

**Nuada's bedchamber**

Kai washed her face for the ninth time in as many minutes, trying to wash away the ache of the punch she received. Why did hurt? She must have asked herself that a thousand and one times by now. She pulled out the nearly threadbare green shirt that she had stuffed into her bag before leaving the B.P.R.D, because there was no way in heck she was wearing that leather instrument of torture called a shirt unless she had to. But the green "Kiss me, I'm Irish" shirt was more suited than the other one for training, even if it only fully covered her bra and had so many holes over her ribs, that the fabric it nearly looked like lace in a few spots.

The leather pants though, she had no choice about. But at least they were comfortable. Her boots, she hadn't even considered putting them on. Beriothien coughed from the bathroom door. "Yeah." She growled. "I'll be right there." Water dripped from her hair and nose. Her arms shook, as she forced herself to remember to breathe. Being hit never scrambled her brain and reactions this badly before.

Beriothien strode the few steps toward her, taking her shoulders in his big, beefy hands, turning her toward him. When she looked up at him, he tapped his chest right over his heart twice and held her upright again. Kai nodded, knowing within herself, understanding without words. "I get it." She sighed hugging herself. "I know." Tears wet her cheeks, mixing with the water that coated them. "I wish I didn't." It wasn't just the flashes of the sands of time that she had seen, that told her, but something deep inside as well. "Gods help me, I wish I didn't."

Beriothien pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, shielding her from the world for the moment, even if it was never meant to be his arms she found comfort in. That thought should have saddened him. Gods knew that it saddened every other male she had ever shot down. But she had shown him his future. She wasn't it. And he was okay with waiting. After some time she stilled, her muscles relaxing as the tears spent themselves. "Alright."

She looked up at her friend and ally. "I guess I should go kick some princely ass." She smiled at Beriothien, cupping his face, standing on her toes to kiss his mouth in thanks. Thanks for being a friend, for being an aide, a confidant, and ally.

From the shadows Nuada watched unseen. Anger boiling within for reasons unknown. And when she kissed the other male, there was nothing in the world that Nuada wanted to do more than break something. Or someone.

Beriothien chuckled, pushing her toward the door as Nuada retreated back to his living area. He knew that the pale elf glared holes through him, the male wasn't exactly hiding, as Kai stood shivering in his arms, and he was thankful that it wasn't him the prince would be sparring with. It would be very painful, he surmised, if he was the one on the receiving end of the punches.

Kai strode into the bare living area with no trace of the recent tears evident, confidence and steel infused into her every muscle. Feline-like grace manifest itself in her every movement. Kai surveyed the room with a practiced eye. Each object surveyed for its potential use as a weapon. But when her eyes fell on him, she retracted the idea of fighting with everything she had right now. No, this wouldn't be the only time they fought, and it would be better if he didn't know everything she could do. No, she would hold herself in check. This was supposed to be a friendly match. Not a fight to the death.

"So," Kai began, cocking an eyebrow in question. "No holds barred? Until someone submits?" She cracked her knuckles lazily. "Or do you need to have a weapon in your hand to feel like a man?" She shrugged, feeling the muscles in her shoulders loosen steadily as she prepared herself. "Cause I was hoping for bare knuckles."

"What is the meaning of no holds barred?"

Kai smirked. "It means no rules." She shrugged again, loosening the muscles a little more. "Well there is one rule, no kill shots. And since you still need my information to find Nuala, I don't think you should have a problem with that rule."

Nuada growled under his breath. "I could find her on my own."

"Suit yourself." Kai turned to walk away but Nuada caught her arm halting her. Kai turned back, wrapping her arm over and around the one that held her before ducking under his arm, twisting it behind his strong back. "You can spar with me or go about your day, and I walk out that door never to return. You won't find your sister, and I make it my mission in life to make sure you fail. Your choice Nuada," she jerked his arm up nearly dislocating his shoulder, "but trust me, you don't want to have me as an enemy." She released him with a shove. Forcing him to stumble forward a few steps. "Choose soon. I don't have all day." She sounded bored more than anything else, as if she couldn't bear to be bothered with him.

"Very well." Nuada dropped to the floor and kicked back at her knees, hoping to break her knee caps, if she was hurt, disabled, she couldn't run while he extracted the information he needed from her. She could do nothing but wait, give it to him, and possibly beg for mercy. He would have only Beriothien to worry about.

She wasn't fazed even slightly by his shot, considering it missed. She jumped, tucking her knees under her body so that he missed by nearly a foot. Kai landed on her feet a moment later.

Nuada, furious, pushed himself from the floor to stand before her. "Are you sure you wish to do this?" Adrenaline laced blood raced like Nos through his arteries and capillaries, warming him. Nothing was ever easy with this female. Not his anger, that kept fighting to leave his system with something warmer, softer and much more lasting. Not his pain, which refused to be directed at her, no matter how much he tried to steer it in her direction. She had never been anything but hard and difficult. Should he really expect anything less?

"Like I said before, Nuada, you've tried to kill me twice. Haven't done it yet. I'm wondering if you have the stones." Kai sank down slightly, waiting for the shot that would eventually come. "Come on Blondie. You're wasting daylight,"she taunted when he failed to attack.

Nuada advanced carefully, she had evaded him once before, and she didn't back up like he expected. She just waited, holding her ground and watching, taking in every movement he made like a tiger watching the grazing gazelle before pouncing. "Come on Nuada," Kai purred, want clear and plain in her voice. "Give me something to work with."

Nuada responded without knowing to her plea. He threw a punch aimed at her jaw that she brushed aside with her forearm as if it were nothing more than an annoying fly. Nuada followed the direction she pushed him in, spinning to kick out at her head. Kai shifted, turning to his leg and stopping it, inches from her face before using it as a lever to flip the prince onto his back, hitting the ground once again. "That all you have for me, prince?" Her feet hadn't even moved since she found her footing. "If so I'm disappointed." She smiled, her voice never leaving its conversational tones. "I expected more."

Nuada twisted, supporting himself on his arms alone, as his legs spun, clocking her hard on the clavicle, sending her crashing to the stones beneath her feet. The air rushed out of her lungs with a whoosh, as Nuada rolled his weight on top of her, locking her wrists in one iron grip. She smiled up at him, as if nothing in the world was so important to her as keeping him right there. "Now you really owe me that dinner. Or at least a drink."

Nuada leaned down until his mouth was only inches from hers. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Kai closed the distance so that he could taste her breath. The smell of sage and autumn honey wafted between them. "Make me."

Gladly, Nauda thought, claiming her lips with his own. Ravaging them without a thought. Tasting her. Groaning, as blood began flowing south, pooling its heat in his groin. Kai arched against him, nearly purring as her peaks grazed against the hard planes of his chest through the layers of fabric that separated them. Nuada responded in kind, crushing himself into the apex of her thighs, forcing a whimper from her lips, one that sounded like the word "more" as it reached his ears.

His unoccupied hand grazed over her ribs, dragging the tight shirt in his finger's wake, moving to her breasts, teasing the taunt flesh before sliding around her waist to cup her backside.

Kai gasped, breaking the spell as her lips left his, ending the feverish madness that motivated them.

In a blink, Nuada threw himself off her and across the room.

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><p>Again, hope you like it. Drop me a line and let me know what you thought.<p> 


	10. Chapter 9 Tattoos

Hi. Back after half a year. I'm sorry. My father that was diagnosed with cancer, died in his sleep. Peacefully and with the entire family around him. He was... well loved... and will forever be missed.

But getting things settled has been... trying. I'm going to finish the story I promise but it might take me a little longer than I had originally planned... if you couldn't tell by the long absence. Again I'm very sorry. I would like to thank all of my very patient and understanding readers. Updating weekly like I was before might not happen again for a bit but I will continue to work diligently at it until you have the entire story.

I'm also looking for a new Beta. TheBlackPages, while a wonderful person and a fantastic Beta has given notice due to my sketchy life and updating plans. So please forgive me, I'll probably be more than a little rough and rusty with my writing until things settle down again.

In the meantime, please read, enjoy and tell me that you think. Also if you see any annoying little boxes and then a sentence that feels like it's missing part of it, please let me know. My computer is messing up. I think I caught all of them in editing but I may have missed some. *Sigh* Jonah days. When it doesn't rain it pours.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Recap:

Kai gasped, breaking the spell as her lips left his, ending the feverish madness that motivated them.

In a blink, Nuada threw himself off her and across the room.

**Nuada's Bedchamber Living Area Floor**

"Well that was highly disappointing." Kai muttered as Nuada disappeared down into the tunnels. "Never thought he was the skittish type." She pushed herself up on her elbows as Beriothien smirked, leaning against the great staircase, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. As silent as the night and just as black, he shook as laughter at his friend rolled through him. "Don't you dare laugh at me."

Beriothien pointed down the hall the fleeing prince disappeared within, barely holding himself upright as his mirth continued.

"Him you can laugh." Kai allowed. "Help me up." She thrust out a hand which he took gingerly, knowing that he had to stay on his toes around her. Prepare for the unexpected, as she loved to throw curve balls at the least expected moment. "No tricks. My arms are still killing me from pulling away from that wall."

Beriothien pulled her up, setting her upright as gently as he could. He had seen the effort Kai put into not showing the recent injury to her father. When she was standing, he turned her gently around and raised her arms to shoulder level. She winced painfully as he probed the joint.

Beriothien hissed seeing the bruises that littered her arms like confetti. He felt like punching the prince. Gods! If the king sees this, Beriothien thought, that idiot prince signs his own death warrant.

"I'm fine." She asserted. "Nothing bad but the shoulder. The wrists don't even hurt any more. I swear the Brownies should bottle what ever was in that healing salve. They'd make fortune." She laughed, turning her arms over so he could continue his inspection. "Nothing like that time. Do you remember? We went hunting, camped for three days I think. We tracked a boar. But my aim was off." If you bothered looking, you would see the eight inch scar just beneath her breasts, across two ribs.

She nearly died that time, because she stepped in front of the enraged animal that was charging at him. She had led the animal over a cliff, barely hanging on to the edge by her torn and bleeding fingernails as her life slipped away in red rivers down her torso and legs. She was just about to fall as he caught her arms. He had never been so happy to see her cocky, arrogant smile, as when she looked up at him. Her hair in tangles, dust and sweat painting her skin in muddied furrows, exhaustion and agony etched into her features. She smiled and said in pants, "always knew you couldn't stay away, Big Guy."

And he knew, because of that smile, that everything would be okay. That smile said everything was going to be fine, always and forever it would hold that meaning. He wished she would smile that way now.

"I need to stay in shape." She kept talking, the grim set of her lips saying more than her words did. "So, feel like sparring?"

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters Abraham's tank room**

"Abraham!"The princess shrieked as Abe, unseen in the water beneath her, kissed the small of her back. He had found that spot quite by accident, and was pleasantly surprised to find out the effect it had on her. She was ticklish. That one spot sent her into fits of giggles. "We are supposed to be swimming."

Nuala had lit up like the sun, when Abraham told her about his tank and its indoor beach. The gentle waves had lapped at her ankles until she was tempted beyond the waters edge. She stripped out of her heavy dress, keeping her shift on in case someone walked in as it seemed everyone knew the code to the team member room doors.

Abe looked somewhat guilty as he broke the water's glass like surface. "But it called to me." He reached for her hand, taking it between the sponge like skin that covered his hands. "I'm sorry if I startled you."

Nuala pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. "And what proof do you offer of your regret?"

"What ever you ask."

Nuala smiled, kissing him. "I may have a few ideas."

**Nuada's Bedchamber. Living area. Shadows.**

It was the clang of metal that drew him back from the recesses of the tunnels to the flickering shadows of the fire lit living area over an hour later. And what he saw was nothing like what he expected.

Kai's shirt was now torn over her ribs, slices on her back looked like claw marks as blood beaded at the edges of the shreds. Tendrils of hair worked their way out of the massive braid that she had pulled her hair into. Her face was flushed and covered in sweat as she concentrated on the dark male she faced off with. Her tan arms were as taunt as live wires as she danced with a blade in her hand. Under, over, around and through the air as if it were a living thing.

Always in motion and in perfect harmony with her partner, or so he thought before her sword tasted blood. Beriothien's arm began trickling drops of red from the shallow kiss of her blade. No words were spoken as the dance continued. How long this went on as he watched, Nuada would have no hope of telling. He could tell both combatants were tiring from their exertion, but neither was willing to quit it seemed.

Kai caught Beriothien's sword hand with a boot sending the metal skidding across the floor. The dark male went after it knowing that he had only three options, concede defeat, reclaim his weapon, or continue without it. He fell to his knees, skidding, to collect the blade and came up swinging. He deflected high to block a vicious swing he expected, only to have Kai fall to the floor, her sword out before her, rolling over her shoulder onto her back, tucking her legs into her chest as she tumbled over the stones, mere inches from the unfeeling cutting edge of his sword, and propelling herself unscathed to her feet beyond him.

Beriothien spun on his knees, kicking out behind him, catching her on her Achilles tendon, landing her flat on her back.

Kai tucked her chin into her chest as she felt herself falling, to protect her head and neck. It didn't stop the air from being forced out of her lungs. "Draw." she rasped, her musical voice hoarse from exhaustion. "Help me up."

Beriothien struggled to his feet and braced to pull her up. His muscles ached from nearly an hour and a half of fighting Kai. A mix of bare knuckles and weapons had reduced him to a pile of aches and cuts.

Kai eased to her feet with her friends help and took his weapon from his weakened grasp, turning to place it carefully on the raised platform to be cleaned and oiled later. "How is your knee?" She asked, referring to a kick that nearly ended their sparring session.

The dark elf grunt noncommittally. He touched his shoulder and pointed at her.

"Sore. And my back itches." Kai touched her nose, feeling the break just underneath the skin. It was only then that Nuada realized that the feature was crooked and her eye had a good chance of being swollen shut within hours unless the Brownies worked their magic. "Could you set my nose again before we wash?"

Beriothien shrugged, reaching a hand over to her face and swiftly jerking her nose back in place.

Contrary to popular belief, Kai was not immune to pain. The sudden eruption of agony on her face without the accompanying adrenalin of a fight, sent her crashing to the floor. A split second before she hit, Nuada was at her side. He caught her just before the hair that wiggled its way out of her braid touched the floor. He glared daggers at the dark male. Only he was supposed to hurt her. As twisted and as sick as that sounded. Only he was allowed to touch her, hurt her, give her pleasure, anything.

That realization rocked him to his core. He was possessive, and it angered him. Both that he was possessive, and that he was furious another person touched her, even if it was only in training, even if no permanent harm was done. He pulled her up, surprised at her solid weight, and pulled her toward the platform where his tinkering tools were laid. A small cushion made it's way under her head, cradling her as she slept, unconscious from the over load of blinding torture. He pushed her gently back from the edge so she didn't roll off.

Beriothien purred consolingly, brushing hair from her lips and face. He may be a hard pain in the rear, and he may never give anyone any slack, but Kai was his friend, even if they started out as enemies.

Nuada caught his arm as he went to brush the backs of his fingers gently across her jaw. A smile that mixed Jack the Ripper with Attila the Hun crept across Nuada's face. It was similar to Kai's, only slightly less psychotic than hers. Her smile had no limits, just as she had no limits. Apparently he did. Interesting, Beriothien thought, as he went flying.

"I am going to say this only once," Nuada growled as Beriothien got to his feet, "touch her again, and each injury will be applied ten fold on you."

Beriothien smirked. Jealousy prince. Already? He thought, analyzing the royal. You're going to love the date she got asked on. And accepted. This will be entertaining. He looked blankly a the prince before striding away toward the shower, laughing silently as he did. This would be very entertaining, indeed.

Kai kept her breathing even, trying not to aggravate her nose. Yeah, that's going to be fun breathing through, she thought, listening to every word spoken around her. It was shocking, what she felt pouring off the prince like a waterfall swollen with seasonal flooding. It was strong like moonshine and it hit her just as fast, this feeling of ownership. At the surface it felt like the feelings of a master toward a slave. But she had learned some time ago, that the surface never told the true story. It only showed emotions that people were comfortable expressing, comfortable having others see.

It was the feelings that ran underneath, that at the moment felt like the barest trickle, sluggish but steady and tasting of the sweetest honey kissed by sun, that left her feeling warm and her palate greedy for more. He may not even realize they were there, she thought suddenly, pulling quickly from his mind. Sometimes the thought of being an empath sickened her, like now when she knew and understood his feelings better than he did. It was an invasion of the basest kind. Space and bodies, once invaded could be repaired or healed. Minds, with time and effort could be rendered whole once again, but stripping a being bare the way she did? Sometimes Kai couldn't bare to look at herself in the mirror. And now would be one of those times, she knew.

"Why do you play at things that could ruin what few good features you have, human?" Nuada asked the silence, brushing her thick braid off her shoulder. "Kai," corrected softly. Ocean, it meant ocean, he mused. Jada Kai. Wise Ocean, or was it Ocean of Wisdom? Fitting for a seer. If she truly was one. She certainly didn't act like any seer he had ever known. She was loud, opinionated, unbending, irritating. She seemed to rush headlong into danger without thinking and... and... And, yes he was having difficulty finishing that thought.

It was her blasted scent that seemed to fill every space and embed itself into his pores that clouded his senses and seemed to confuse his mind. She was everywhere. She wasn't even very pretty. Sure, her eyes were stunning. But they were in, by elven standards, a plain face. By human standards, she may have been decent to look at, he supposed. She was slender but well muscled, obviously from fighting and training of almost any kind by the look of the scars that littered her skin. Each one sent a jolt of anger through him. Her hair would be considered unusual among his kind. Brown that changed color depending on the light.

No, she couldn't compare with the courtiers he knew who prided themselves on their looks and anything else that would entrap a male. Couldn't? No, that wasn't the right word. Wouldn't. Even if she was in Elven silk, which he was willing to bet she would have to be forced into, she would refuse to compare to them. Refuse to sink to their level. Refuse to bow to the expectations and trappings that kind of life would entail. She was like him in that way. A fighter. One who rejected the rules. He liked that. Nuada shook himself, forcing that thought out of his head.

Why, he wondered, was he even considering her in that life? She wasn't elf, or even fae. Was she? Seers among humans weren't unheard of. But they were very rare.

She was paler than when he had first seen her. Probably from the pain and lack of sunshine. Her dark coloring wasn't natural. When she was sleeping, and naked, laying on top of him, her hair draped over her just brushing the top of her hips, he saw clear tan lines left by the sun. The feeling of her hair grazing across his skin sent shivers through his body like nothing he ever felt before.

He had slept with a few of the better whores in the market, but last night was more soothing than any time he spent with them. And all he did was sleep, granted he was trussed up and uncomfortable, but the sound of her breathing and the throb of her heart against him were more calming than he realized until the next morning.

The markings on her arms and legs that he had seen were confusing though. The Claddaghs were straightforward enough. But the runes and tarot? Something about them rang distant bells within his memory. Nuala would remember, but she was too far away for him to pick the information from her mind. Whatever it was, he had known it nearly a thousand or so years previous to now. It was something from before or just after the last war with the humans. There were two treaties from around that time, other than the one with the humans. One with the Lower Fae Court and King Auberon, and the other he couldn't member who it was with, and either one he couldn't remember what it was about.

Beriothien walked back into the room rubbing a towel over his bare arms and chest as he directed his steps toward his friend.

Nuada growled, stepping between them.

Beriothien cocked an eyebrow and jerked a thumb over his shoulder down the way he had just come.

"I'll take her." Nuada murmured so softly that he wondered if he said it out loud. "I'll take her," he said louder, stunning himself by picking her up and cradling her gently to his chest. "I would rather not sleep with someone who smells worse than pigs."

Kai covered her chuckle with a cough, muttering "pigs," before shifting in his arms, forcing Nuada's hold to tighten, pulling her tighter into his chest, her mouth barely inches from his neck. Her warm, moist breath on his breath made his heart beat slightly faster, but her hand that limply fell to his rear and her other hand that pressed against his torso sliding down, steadily to just over his groin, sent it racing. So innocent and so distracting.

Nuada shifted her in his arms only to have her hands fall in even more intimate places. Cupping him gently. Nuada struggled not to groan as her hold tightened in what must have been a dream. Kai smiled against his neck, unseen. And when he thickened in her hand, it took everything she had not to moan with want.

Kai was disappointed when Nuada set her down on the edge of the recessed floor tub, uneven stones biting into her back and side. Her eyes remained closed even as she fought not to smile upon hearing his clothes whisper to the ground. Water splashed against her arm and side of her face as he sank into the soothing liquid, turning to face her.

"Let's get you out of these clothes." Nuada mumbled to himself unlacing the pants at her waist. Her honey toned skin gave way to her pale milk white Irish tones making him catch his breath, realizing two things. One, she wasn't wearing underwear, and two, he was seeing something no one else did, and that made him smug. Inch by inch he worked the leather pants down, her scent filling his nose making his heart thud just a little bit harder.

"What have you done to yourself?" Nuada asked quietly, tracing the patterns on her legs, that looked like anklets, delicate and lace like over the tops of her feet and up the back of her calves. All in gold, only a shade brighter than her tan. "Why do humans decorate their skin like this?" He wondered out loud, pulling her shirt off, nearly groaning after seeing that she had no underthings on. Was she intentionally trying to test his patience?

"They're the marks of distinction for a seer among my tribe." She said, coming "awake," groaning as she tried to sit up.

"How long have you been awake?" Nuada snarled, pushing up on the edge of the sunken bath, stepping out, water washing over the side, pooling at his feet as the fluid dripped from his skin onto the cool stone beneath.

"Long enough." She admitted. "Look I don't mean to be a pain in your backside, but I can't move my arms." She looked tied and in need of a stiff drink. "So if you don't help me send in Beriothien so he can wash these cuts out."

Nuada's head snapped toward her with a growl thundering in his chest. She wanted someone else to touch her. The idea snapped something deep inside him, perhaps irreparable. It felt animal and visceral. It wasn't logical, or even reasonable. It was deep and unabashed. "I'll stay.

He sank back into the water, giving Kai a small chance to ogle his backside. She had to admit, it was even better than she thought, without his clothes. She groaned in pain as Nuada pulled her up by her arms. "Watch the shoulder you blasted elf!" She yelled. "I dislocated it getting off that wall you had me on! If you hadn't been such an ass, you could have just asked me to come down here." She ended bitterly. "I would have come." Tears sprang to her eyes as he pulled her into the water, not that he was any gentler as he went about it.

"Stop talking." He ordered, settling her underneath the warm water. He ran his fingertips over her injured shoulder, checking the damage. It was minimal, but it would take a while to heal fully. She would still be able to use it to fight but it would hurt. She was foolish to test it's limits, he thought, adding some of the Brownie's concoction to the water, until it bubbled the surface, its fingers working into their skin, massaging the muscles beneath. "So you are the seer, Kai?"

Kai smirked. "You had a doubt?"

"Not really." Nuada cracked a wry smiled. "You play games all too well." He guided her to sit on the ledge that lined one of the sides of the bath, her back toward him so he could examine the cuts on her back. Only then did he see the tree. Branches, as thin as filament twisted over the skin of her back and shoulders. Odd. He had a similar tattoo, much smaller, of course, on his hip. They were supposed to be small, so that they were easier to hide if the need arose. And only the elven royal families had them. Anger began bubbling within his chest.

Once her cuts were cleaned he moved down to her arms, noticing for the first time the three small symbols, one each on her shoulder, elbow, and wrist, all in the same gold that nearly blended with her tan but seemed to glow in the low light. He swallowed nervously, as much as he could be nervous, those were blessings given by the gods themselves. Thurisaz meant the giant or titan, and sat on her shoulders showing her strength, that she was considered to be of the gods, not quite one of them, not far closer to them than others. The sign of Odin, given to warriors allowed to enter Valhalla, usually only given after death, graced her elbows. The fact that she had it, was alarming. It meant that the gods had blessed her, accepted her, viewed her as worthy. Jera meant the good harvest, on here it meant may everything she does be blessed, and rested on her wrists.

The combination was what made him nervous. But add in the marks on her back, legs, and feet?He knew humans got marks on their skin for various reasons but mainly to prove they were different, and it only showed how much they were alike. But only the ones on her feet were put there by mortal hands. The one on her back was etched there by her blood, he could smell it just beneath her skin. The ones on her arms? Those did not smell like human inks or even her. He could feel the power in them. She was blessed by the humans, the fae, and the gods. She bore their marks.

"See anything you like, Silverlance?"

He tapped the mark of Jera on her wrist. "How did you come by these marks?"

"The runes appeared by themselves. Odin I was born with. Thurisaz I got when I was in the training arena at the camp. That day I was training with the older ones in a mock battle. My side took heavy losses. We were being pushed to see just how much we could take. It was the point of the exercise. My team was falling around me, we were down to just Beriothien, my friend Shandor, and myself against, if I remember correctly, twenty," she answered simply, no attempt made at guile. "We were about to be pinned down when Shandor took sword strike meant for me and I simply lost it. By the time I calmed down the field was leveled."

"The children watching said it was like the gods guided me. That night when I washed the dirt and sweat off Thurisaz was there. And Jera," Kai smiled softly, "I was helping my mother, she's a healer and witch, but she also mediates disputes and sits on our tribal council. I was being trained to do the same, and a case came up, a territory dispute that had been going on for centuries. A farming tribe wanted land that was unclaimed and a war-like tribe wanted the land for training. It had been suggested that they divide the territory equally but it never worked neither side was happy. But the war-like tribe was starving and the farming tribe was having problems with wild animals and guarding their territory. So I asked them to share all the land, their own and the unclaimed area. I asked the warrior tribe to guard the farming tribe, and the farming tribe to feed the warriors. It was rough at first, they argued, but eventually they decided that the trade of food for protection was worth it. The day the fighting stopped I found Jera on my wrists."

"If only all things could be settled as easily."

Kai turned to face him. "If a peaceful resolution cannot be found, the parties aren't looking hard enough." She took his face in her hands. "Now unless you tell me not to, I'm going to kiss you."

"Don't." Nuada growled, his voice husked by lust that coursed through his veins like acid, burning within him, unknown at first but now boiling within.

"What's wrong Nuada?" Kai asked, nipping gently at the joint of his neck and shoulder. "Afraid I'll bite? Or afraid you'll like it?"

Nuada didn't bother to answer. His lips crashed against hers with the force of a tsunami and was just as devastating. His fingers tangled in her mass of wet curls locking her in place sending waves of desire through her, wreaking pleasurable havoc on her mind, until she didn't know which direction was up and she no longer cared if her lungs had the oxygen they needed. She surrendered to it, feeling alive and burning within.

Kai flicked her tongue across his lips teasingly, nearly moaning as he responded, tangling her tongue with his own, drawing her into his mouth to explore to her hearts content. When his arms twisted and pulled her closer, she moaned softly into his kiss, being placed gently in his lap. Her arms felt weak and unresponsive without the adrenaline from earlier as she struggled to touch him, nearly desperate to feel his skin beneath her fingertips.

Nuada nibbled at her lips experimentally only to hear her gasps of encouragement, that egged him on driving his lust to higher heights, till it throbbed in his veins like a unending drum beat.

Kai finally gritted her teeth against the pain, resting her hands on the prince's pale chest tracing every scar and defined muscle until she grazed the tips of her fingers across the skin that covered his heart, causing him to jump.

Startled he pulled away, pushing her quickly back to her seat. "I'll call the Brownies to help you dress." Without another word he fled the room, shamed with his behavior. Which part of his behavior that caused him shame, he wasn't quite sure. She still heated his blood. Her kiss, even in retrospect, tasted intoxicating on his lips and tongue. Her body against and on his made him ache with need. After nearly a centuries, absence maybe it was time to visit the brothel again.


	11. Chapter 10 Dance in the square and WTH?

A/N: Hey. Has it really been a year or more? oh boy. No wonder I'm rusted all to heck and back. Please don't kill me if this is crap. I haven't written much in the past year. I guess grieving is different for everyone. Then as soon as I actually start writing again, my computer dies. *SIGH* But thanks to my amazing repair shop that salvaged all of my stories (Even though my notes are gone at least I'm not starting from scratch. I could kiss them.) I'm back! And hopefully wrapping up this story soon!

I'm still looking for a Beta, so please forgive my mistakes and rather rough chapters. I'm trying to smooth out again but more than a year of rust will take time and a stubborn beta to wear off. (There aren't many decent beta's that will put up with my "moods." I'm generally a very nice and responsive person, but I understand their issues with my drier than the sahara writing spell.)

Anyway,

Much love to everyone that is still here with me, and to all those who sent their amazingly kind love and support in my **HOURS** of need. You are truly fantastic and awe inspiring people and fans.

Now on with the show!

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Recap:

Startled he pulled away, pushing her quickly back to her seat. "I'll call the Brownies to help you dress." Without another word he fled the room, shamed with his behavior. Which part of his behavior that caused him shame, he wasn't quite sure. She still heated his blood. Her kiss, even in retrospect, tasted intoxicating on his lips and tongue. Her body against and on his made him ache with need. After nearly a centuries absence, maybe it was time to visit the brothel again.

**East End of the Brooklyn Bridge: Troll Market**

Kai ears were assaulted by the halting thunder of some instrument that resembled a piano, as she wandered through the market. It reverberated off the walls and sent market patrons running covering their ears, or at least what Kai assumed were ears. She strode through the deluge of people toward the bedlam, as vendors called to the running patrons, trying desperately not too loose their business.

She held herself feeling pain she couldn't describe lanced through her back making her heart ache. She knew it was part of a premonition but that didn't help her stem the flood of tears that threatened to fall as she made her way through the rushing crowd. Kai wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, forcing her mind to the task at hand. There was a job to do. If she had any hope of preventing the holocaust she saw, there was a lot to do. She sighed softly, dropping her arms to her sides, it was time to kick things into high gear. It was time, and she had a mountain of work ahead.

Upon reaching the source of the barrage of sound she saw a large leprechaun, his eyes red and blood shot, pounding on the instrument, the loud twang of the strings making him wince in pain. Kai tapped him no the shoulder. _"_Gabh mo leithsceal a dhuine uasail. Bealtaine me?" She pointed to the instrument and he shrugged jumping off the stool. Blessed silence flooded the market when he stopped playing. And for a few moments it was as if the marketplace sighed in relief.

Kai slid onto the stool and began pressing the keys tentatively letting the almost unearthly notes float in the air. Then gaining confidence, she strung the notes together, rising and falling like waves on a smooth, glassy sea. She closed her eyes and felt the music flow through her veins and out into the air, as easy as breathing even though she never played an instrument before in her life. She felt the crowd gather around, their breaths caught in their throat, their heart beats slowing as she added her voice to the melody. Kai swayed back and forth as her hands flew over the keys, pulling the array of beings with her.

**Elsewhere in the marketplace**

Nuada stalked through the market on the way to the brothel with knots forming in his shoulders. It was exasperating how easily she, he refused to use her name out of spite, had heated his blood.

Cobblestone passed under his feet in a blur, patrons of the market skittering away from the ill tempered prince, until he reached the faded red door that hid his destination from the public. His hand raised to rap quickly on the aged wood, only to have it give way before he made contact. Two giggling females ran past, barely sparing him a look in their flight to the street. Nuada stared after them in shock, his hand still raised to knock on the door.

"We're closed!" A voice he recognized as being owned by the madam called to him, calling Nuada back to the purpose of his visit.

"Surely you can make time for your best customer." He objected to the empty entrance way.

"Haven't you heard prince?" The madam asked entering the richly appointed hall, brushing strands of her hair into place. "The festivals have begun again. You know the laws. We cannot continue our business during a festival. The gods would strike us if we did." She snapped a silver clip into the waves of her black tresses. Soft berry red fabric clung to her well rounded curves, leaving no doubt as to how she became the madam in charge.

"Not even you would spare me some of your time, madam?" The prince asked, his voice dropping an octave to the tone few females had ever resisted.

"Normally yes." She sighed looking into the hall mirror at her perfectly painted features. "But can't you feel the life back in the market? I want to see who or what caused the air of death to be brushed away. Maybe afterward, my prince." And with that blunt dismissal, she shooed him out the door and locked it behind the both of then and hurried, as quickly decorum allowed, to the source of the new, throbbing center of vitality, leaving a confused and frustrated prince in her wake.

**Festival center**

Beriothien looked on silently, watching his charge, his hand almost permanently attached to the sword at his side, as the crowd swayed with the rising and falling music. Held in thrall by Kai's voice until the last note cried, no sound was heard in the vicinity. But each could feel their life's blood pumping harder and faster, could see colors becoming more vibrant, as she poured life into them through the song.

Auberon made his way quietly through the crowd, his personage hidden underneath a large dark cape. Making his way way to the much younger drow elf, he tapped his shoulder. Beriothien knew who it tapped his shoulder, trying not to call attention away from the singing female. "A ligean ar thabhairt doibh seo, deanfaidh muid?" He asked pointing toward the giant drums that sat in the music makers stall.

Beriothien nodded, a grin creeping across his lips. He had seen many of the gypsy festival dances and more than a few at the summer kingdom festival, if nothing else got the vital juices flowing in each and every fae in the market, that would. He looked around the market, catching sight of the incubus who's eyes never left his charge. He growled softly, pointing Auberon's attention to him.

Auberon smirked pointing too the young prince from the winter kingdom as he entered this section of the market, looking dazed and mildly confused at the crowd.

Beriothien laughed darkly, nodding to the dozen or so large drums. He was more than ready to give the pampered palace brat something else to worry about. At his waist he waved, catching Kai's eye, letting her know what was going to happen, despite the fact he would be willing to bet she already knew. Kai nodded slightly as she crooned the last note of her song, a small smile tugging at her lips.

As the last note faded away, King Auberon, still hidden under his heavy cowl, moved through the crowd to the drums, followed closely by his dark companion. Auberon, taking his place behind one of the drums hitting the drum sticks to draw the attention of the crowd as Kai took her place in the center of the open floor.

No sooner did they begin hammering the stretched taunt skin of the drums, than they were joined by the djinn raising their voices in their seductive chorus as Kai began to dance. Her hips enticing the watching beings as she danced through the throng. Raising and falling, back and forth, around in circles, faster and faster as the music gained speed and intensity, until her skin became moist, droplets glittering like diamonds in the low light. Unknown to the crowd they swallowed in one accord, tasting her skin on their lips. Salty and sweet, just spicy enough to make them want more.

The candle and lantern light flickered their warm inviting glow in time with the thudding drums, rolling across her skin like a lovers caress, with almost nothing hidden behind her leather shirt. The prince growled softly, picking up on every beings thoughts around him, causing both Auberon and Beriothien to grin wickedly from their place in the shadows. If Kai heard the dark cloud growing in his mind, she didn't react as she twined her arms sinuously around "Jersey's" neck. He laughed pulling her closer with a hand twinging itself into her hair, before she was torn from him.

The angered royal spun her behind him, almost hissing and spitting with molten rage. Kai merely grinned and continued her dance, as if that was her plan as she captured him, circling his muscled waist with a single one of her legs, pulling against him and rubbing like a cat in heat. Barely a hairsbreadth of space separated them from one another, her heat permeating his cool exterior, as her own hands skimmed over his clothed arms. The prince's arms fell about her trim waist, feeling her shiver under his touch. The honesty of her reaction declared in her eyes, hidden from the staring legion that surrounded them by the waves of her hair the fell about her face.

Unconscious of his actions, Prince Nuada's free hand came up to brush her hair away from shielding her vivid eyes. But it was not to be. Kai ducked under the raised hand, slipping away. She moved away with the beat, crooking a finger in his direction, beckoning him forward, a bewitching smile gracing her lips, the rest of her moving like water. Hips rocking, forming circles, rising and falling like waves caused the mouths of those around her to suddenly have an unquenchable thirst, one that only the beaded sweat on her skin would satisfy.

Breathing grew harder, even as Nuada's blood began pounding hard within his veins. First one step, then another, his boots making no sound above the roar of the drums.

And then she disappeared, melting into the crowd as two beautiful female fae took her place. But their movements, instead of being full of fluidity and grace, were jerky and dry by comparison. As they began their dances, twisting around him, attempting of hold him fast, more began the dances around them, he caught sight of the minx slinking away in the shadows, her work being done for the day.

**Nuada's Bedchamber. Storage tunnel.**

Kai combed through her sweat tangled hair, humming softly the song from the markets. A rough cloth and a bowl of water at her knee ready to wipe away the moisture from her skin. Her eyes shining from the feelings dancing in within her heart, her mind floating onto soft future memories. Things the way the future was to be if things flowed down the path they were now. She could feel soft fingers tracing down her exposed spine, still yet to come. Ghost like, vanishing just like a spring time breeze over her heated flesh.

She pushed the cloths down into the water, dampening its woven strands, as the memories yet to come showed her two small faces. A male and female. She heard them laugh, as the cool water ran in rivets taking with them the dust and sweat that clung to her skin.

Her eyes glazed as she fell deeper into the vision, gentle as a summer breeze, blocking out the tunnel around her. It's sounds and smells as far from her as spring is from autumn. Rats that scurried through the darkness, avoided her, hugging the walls keeping as much of the trash strewn floor between themselves and her as possible. Warmth and heat twisted around her as the garbage strewn floor began transforming around her. Her hands swept out from her sides, water dripping from the cloth in her hands, the drops feeding the moss that crept out from her sides, sending new tendrils out as the vision continued. Trash became covered mounds of rich green, vibrant and alive in the moist darkness even as rain clouds gathered in the sky far above, thundering with power and life giving showers.

Seeds, long forgotten in the gloom, found roots and sprang into being, at the outer-edge of a wide circle with Kai at the center. Pulses pushed out from her rolling through the vegetation like a shot of growth caffeine. The moss and plants crept up the walls of the tunnel, sending their roots down into the mortar holding the bricks in place. The tunnel became green and verdant, alive and growing stronger with each passing moment.

Painfully Kai was wrenched to her feet and shoved against the plant covered wall, fern leaves brushing her face, moss cushioning her body from banging her head on the stone. "What are you!" A voice yelled in her ear, sounding to her as if it were miles away. The smile that tugged at her lips didn't move even as she was slammed into the wall again. "Kai!" Her heavy eyes searched for the distant voice.

Nuada forced her face toward what little light there was in the shadows, and what he saw made his heart clench in the unfamiliar sensation of worry. Her eyes were the same as those humans he had seen huddled into corners, stoned out of their minds, but her face was serene and when he bent to smell her skin he caught nothing but her own scent, no noxious odor of the drugs that clouded their minds.

"Kai..." he breathed, more gently guiding her back against the wall. "Why did the gods see fit to inflict you on me?" Nuada brushed her hair back, off the leaves that tugged at her strands. "Why can't you see what I'm trying to do?" He looked down the hallway to each side. Seeing no one to watch, he kissed her forehead as softly as a butterfly landing without knowing why. "I wish someone would." He bent and picked her up, cradling her to his chest, gently returning her to the bed in his chambers.

He carefully slid one of his pillows under her head and pulled his quilt over her. "I understand Nuada." She breathed, her eyes closing as her vision tired mind began the process of shutting down for sleep. "But you're wrong."

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><p>Translations, Links, and notes:<p>

All vids on Youtube. Add youtube . com (without spaces) before the watch? cause they won't let me.

Gabh mo leithsceal a dhuine uasail. Bealtaine me? (Elven/ Irish Gaelic)= Excuse me sir. May I?

The first song is Kindred by Super Metroid.= watch?v=xLNCZuvBHHw

A ligean ar thabhairt doibh seo, deanfaidh muid? (Elven/ I.G.) = Let's give them a show, shall we?

The second song is Ojos Asi by Shakira.= watch?v=5BzkbSq7pww&feature=relmfu (Please ignore the hair.)

Kai dances like... think Shakira with a warrior's deadly grace and a heck of a lot faster... with a few other advantages. These links are just examples because I'm really terrible at describing passionate dance. watch?v=jkM_DHQEvAE (Shakira bellydancing live in Morocco) & watch?v=8C6xDjQ66wM (Objection by Shakira)

A/N: Okay... Let me have it. What'd you think? *winces* I can take it.


	12. Chapter 12 Jealousy and Plan B

AN: Hey guys. I know. No apologies, no excuses. To tell you the truth, a reviewer claimed that Kai was a Mary Sue, which was both alarming and insulting. I put a lot of work into her. Know any other writer who would look up customs and languages in obscure parts of the world to make a decent story? No, i bet you don't. Good writers are a dying breed. And I applaud those that bleed words onto a page so you can read it.

But instead of be bitter, despite the fact I really wanted to, I took that criticism to heart and went back to the beginning, and read line by line to see if Kai as a character was guilty of being a dreaded Mary Sue. Because in all honesty, I did ask for critiques about how I could make the story better and how I as a writer could improve. And it broke my spirit.

But writer's ink is still in my veins, so I kept going. I wrote and rewrote the ending of this story until my fingers were about to fall off. So Kai may seem a little OOC, as might Nuada. And I am sorry for that. In all honesty though, my heart is no longer in this story. I thank that reviewer for making me more cognizant of a failing I may have, and I will watch for it in future.

For all the true writers, that I might have touched with my words, I offer this piece of advice that was handed to me. Not only do our reviewers review us, but WE must also REVIEW THEM. So if everyone is saying that your story is amazing and they are praising the character, then one comes along and makes an accusation that cuts to your soul, first review them. If they have the guts to post and are good, then listen, with a grain of salt. They are not you. They do not know your characters. But if they don't post, and don't have the cojones to let others rip them to shreds, feel free to ignore them. If they aren't the only ones complaining, then you have a serious problem that needs addressed.

Since I followed that advice, I'm putting their criticism down to jealousy. I do try to improve, and i think it shows. You need cojones of solid diamond to perform on any stage, and writing is no different.

So will I finish this story? It's already done, I am just in the process of posting. Will I write a sequel? Probably not. I love the characters, but it hurts to much to come back to this timeline in this universe. At least now. So I hope I leave you with a satisfying conclusion.

Please review. All flamers I will sick my pet dragon on.

Adios!

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><p>Chapter 11 Jealousy and Plan B<p>

Recap:

He carefully slid one of his pillows under her head and pulled his quilt over her. "I understand Nuada." She breathed, her eyes closing as her vision tired mind began the process of shutting down for sleep. "But you're wrong."

**B.P.R.D Headquarters Manning's office **

Short, formerly perfectly manicured nails had been bitten down to the quick in the passed two days. He had been given a week to sort the Bethmoran issue, and it seemed that there had been no progress since the civilian had gone missing. Sure the princess was now in custody, but she was never the problem. Her brother on the other hand? He was still at large and able to cause trouble, despite Nuala's assertion that he was being distracted...

Manning was fuming. Those had been the princess' exact words. He is being distracted by the wise ocean. What did that mean? What ocean? Why wise? How was an ocean wise for that matter? Question on top of question rolled in his mind. Oceans? Yeah oceans of crap was what he swam in at the moment. Each question was hammered into his skull with a tap of a what used to be manicured nails against the leather arm of his chair, as he rocked slowly back and forth. What to do... What to do...

There were only so many options at his disposal. The one that was becoming increasingly more attractive was to end the issue. It would be fairly easy. Nuala's connection with her brother would solve the problem with acceptable collateral damage. Her death would cause his. And so would end the problem of his spurring on a war. True the army would still exist. But with the prince gone the immediate threat would dissipate, giving them time to find and destroy it.

Manning laced his fingers together over his slowly expanding middle. The freaks would be a problem if he chose that path. They would undoubtedly object, even if it was the only way to take care of this threat. In the end it didn't truly matter, they would have to be dealt with eventually. Why not sooner rather than later? He sighed, picking up the bright red phone on his desk. Better call for authorization.

**Nuada's Bedchamber. **

Kai bolted upright, throwing the quilt that covered against the stone wall behind her, startling the Brownies that cleaned while she and the prince slept. "Ga dom mo mhala agus gach rud ann. Car chuir tu e?" She hissed softly, carefully searching through the room without making a sound. Nuada watched from hooded eyes as her search became more and more frantic.

"What are you looking for, human?" He asked, his voice sounding rough from sleep.

Normally, she knew in the corner of her mind, that voice would have made every bone in her body become jello. But now she was focused. She had seconds to prevent what she had seen and that small window was closing quickly. "My phone. It's in my bag."

"What is a phone?"

Kai growled in frustration, now ripping apart his room in a frenzy. "It's a little thing humans talk into. It is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand." The Brownies followed closely after her setting things to rights, gasping as she showed no propriety or even embarrassment when she upturned their princes clothing, including his undergarments onto the floor. "It allows them to communicate over long distances." The only area of the room she hadn't gone through was his work bench, and Nuada scowled as she walked toward it. "You must have seen at least one in your years with them."

"I have." As she neared the bench he found his heart beginning to shudder. He had the sneaking suspicion that the device she talked about was the same one he had begun taking apart while she slept off her vision the previous evening. It would be of no use to her anymore.

Her eyes zeroed in on... well what used to be her nearly indestructible phone. Her left hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose as Kai took breath after calming breath. Each pull of air hissing through like a fan, stoking the fire humming in her blood even as she tried to starve it of fuel. "You took apart my phone..." It wasn't a question, and wisely he refrained from answering. She debated for a moment if it was wisdom or stubbornness, but then she realized that there was no time for that internal discussion.

But there was enough time for a warning. Kai spun and as quick as a lightening strike, Nuada was pinned to the wall by a knife digging through the sleeve of his shirt and buried into the wall behind him. The prince fought the shock that he felt from showing of his face. No one was faster than him. In his stunned state, Nuada didn't notice that Kai had slipped from the room.

"Now I have to find a phone."

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters Cafeteria **

Incessant ringing had Liz digging into her tight jeans for the small phone hidden within. It had been ringing non-stop for the past ten minutes as she tried to eat. Who was up this early? Even Red was still under his blankets. Liz slid her thumb across the screen of her newest phone, thinking about how difficult it was to get melted plastic out of her pockets. "Hello?"

"Liz! Thank gods!"

Liz took her phone away from her ear and looked at the caller id. "Kai, why are you at a Chinese take out?" She winced as the woman on the other end growled and cursed at a certain royal technogeek. "Alright. Got it." Liz pushed her breakfast away, suddenly craving Chinese. "So what's going on with you?"

"Where's Nuala?" Kai asked, holding a hand up to the screaming shop owner. She had to get the point across before the cops arrived.

"She's with Abe."

Kai spat a dark epithet at the shop owner. "Find her Liz. Her, Abe, and Red, all of you need to stay together. There's a plan b with the princess' name on it, Liz... You'll know when to leave. Tell Red to keep an eye on the exits and that father was right. He'll know what I mean when he needs to."

A click and a dial tone told Liz the phone was disconnected, as her hand fell to the gun she was never without. It was small comfort but the weight was reassuring on her hip. "Damn. Here I was thinking this would be a quiet morning."

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters Abraham's tank room**

Water splashed gently against the sandy bank of the indoor beach, palm trees shading the small inlet that hid the door to the library outside. Liz swatted aside the large leaves that kept smacking her, making her very interested in seeing how well the green fronds burned. "Abe!" Another leaf slapped her face, each hit sawing at the already tenuous threads of her self-restraint. "Abe!"

Liz felt her skin begin heating and the tiny green whips began melting into ash before they touched her skin, leaving behind her a vaguely Liz shaped form in the greenery. Water that dripped down the almost waxen stipules, ran backward in an attempt to get away from the heat she exuded that threatened to boil it away. "Abraham Sapien! It's important!"

Abe pushed through the slick, water drenched fronds with a quizzical look tugging at his face. "Yes Liz?"

"Get everything you need to run. Kai called." She ran a hand through her crow black hair. "There's a plan b. We need to be ready to leave. Don't leave the princess alone." She sighed, wishing she could enjoy the paradise that Abe had painstakingly cultivated is his tank suite. White sandy beach, tropical breezes, sun beating down, trees for shade, bikini, tangy margaritas with tiny umbrellas, and Red with nothing... She shook her head banishing the incredibly appealing picture. Later... There would be a later for that fantasy, she determined. "She said we'd know when to leave."

Abe nodded, worry lancing his heart. "Of course. I'll go prepare now."

**Outside the Chinese Take Out Near the East End of the Brooklyn Bridge**

"Dear gods..." Kai panted, running as fast as she possible could through the crowd. "One more night. All I need is one more night. Please... give me one more night to set the balances right." She ducked behind a dumpster as a police car drove passed the alley she had just tore down. "Crap. They're all over the place, like cockroaches." She looked up as the lightening sky, sweaty curls clinging to her skin like cobwebs, searching for an answer in the already overcast heavens.

Thunderous footsteps approached from the direction she just came. She held her breath as they got closer, getting louder to her sensitive ears. Fifty feet, thirty feet, twenty five... fifteen... ten... And Kia whispered with only moments before they rounded the corner and found her. "Da, I know I promised. But..." The police turned the corner and found nothing but an empty alley and an old rusted dumpster. They looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't like a girl who broke in to a take out to use the phone was a major issue.

**Troll Marketplace Cafe, a hour later**

Kai raised her hand, calling for another cup of tea, needing it's burn coating her throat to calm her shaking nerves. The busy marketplace hummed at the edges of her conscious mind. It wasn't until the whispers began that she noticed the circle of beings that created a solid ring around her. "Jersey" pushed through the crowd, the platter with her tea high above his head. "Move aside please!" He yelled over the din.

"Jersey" gasped as he broke through the wall. "Oh it's our local celebrity." He grinned, causing her heart to thud inside her. His white teeth catching what little bit of light there was. "I thought you forgot about us serfs."

She laughed heartily, sounding like musical chimes. "How could I?" Kai winked, her green eyes twinkling merrily. "I need someone to serve me my tea." She waved to the seat opposite her. "Please sit. I could really use a chat." She shoved the seat back with her booted foot, the seat scraping hard on the cobblestones. As he sat, she laughed and nodded. "I finally figured it out! You're an incubus!" She held out her hand for him to shake. "Nice to finally meet one. But please stop the supernatural charm. Legally engaged."

"Wow." "Jersey" shook her hand. "Shot down by an untouchable princess who's way out of my league, all before I can properly introduce myself officially." His hand came to his chest, clutching over his heart. "You wound me madam. Painfully. Ouch."

Kai laughed, smacking his arm across the small table. "Goof."

**Across the marketplace in the tavern**

Nuada snapped his fingers calling for another round of his favorite drink, staring out over the crowd, at the two sitting in the cafe. Kai's face lit up like sunshine as she laughed, her head thrown back, rivers of tangled reddish gold tumbling down her nearly bare back. A goblet was placed beside Nuada's elbow, full and frothy with its intoxicating liquid. Moments later it was against his lips and burning down his throat as he stared at them. The male he had seen before, laughing and smiling until his gut clenched and filled with bile.

Kai turned to him and locked her eyes to his for an endless heartbeat, before a smile twisted her lips at the corners. She turned back to her companion and leaned toward him and whispered against his ear, turning the low thud of his heartbeat into a roaring freight train, his skin tightening and adrenaline flooded his veins.

Kai slowly pulled back to her seat, sipping her tea as if she was conversing with the English human queen over steaming, calming beverage. Nuada slowly sipped at his tankard but spit it out in a fountain when both of the tables occupants stood and wrapped their arms around each other. She waved to him with a smile and they disappeared into the throng.

"Bean damnaigh." The prince growled, swallowing the last mouthfuls of his drink. "I think I need another round."

**Down the marketplace and side splitting laughter later**

"Think it worked?" "Jersey" asked, holding her hand above her head and watching Kai turn in a circle under it. Being what he was, the fury flowing of the prince across the only wide causeway in the marketplace may as well have been a flashing neon sign.

"Of course it did." She laughed, walking over to a stall they were passing, pulling a gossamer scarf from the pipes it hung off of and twined it about his neck and hair. "Not your color." She winked, pulling it free. "But a good look." She moved to the next before Jersey caught her hands.

"So what's the plan Princess?" He laughed, bowing in response to Kai's formal curtsy. "Get me killed by the angry, spoiled, jealous prince who can't seem to get his head out of his proverbial rear end? Or is there an actual plan somewhere in that wacky head of yours?" Jersey asked pulling her to the next stall. This one filled with etched bone, leather, and metal, each made into jewelry. "Oh hey look there's a tiara for you my lady."

"Wow!" Kai clapped her hands gleefully in sarcastic joy. "Just what I always wanted! It'll go perfect with my combat boots and weapon vests!" She joyful face fell. "Really? I can handle the nicknames, but a tiara? Please!" Kai playfully smacked the back of his head, yanking his away from the stall full of shiny baubles to one full of her Achilles heel, sharp shiny objects. "And don't fret dear. I'll protect you from the big bad prince."

"Oh oh oh no!" "Jersey" groaned painfully. "Is there anything in all this," he waved a hand pulling attention to her muddy clothes and damp hair. "That is at all female, anymore?" He almost snarled looking her over. Apparently the thoughts that wandered about his brain were less than pleasant. "That's it! I'm going to give you a make over, to at least get you halfway princess like. If you're going to set a trap you have to use the right bait and gorgeous, you ain't it... yet." He yanked her down the row to work his magic.

**Several hours later in a Troll Market Pub**

Nuada sat occupying the darkest corner of the pub bar, glaring at everyone other than the bartender that entered a three foot circle around him. He had been in this one spot since Kai disappeared with that male. It was a new feeling, bitter and acidic on his tongue. The taste of the ale had stopped working to cut through his building fury. He raised a long finger into the air, hidden slightly by his crouching back.

Silent stares followed rust brown curls that cascaded down a smooth tan back as it's owner slunk into the bar. Skin tight leather and smokey eyes made even the fey that weren't human compatible lick their lips hungrily.

Kai smirked, raising a hand to her the barkeep's attention as she slid onto the stool next to the dour royal. "Two of the strongest thing you have. And the bottle." The keep's eyes grew wider and he nodded, almost desperate to get back to the other end of the bar and his paying customers that were lined up six deep to watch the dangerous royal.

"Go away." The sour male growled beside her as she slid another large tankard to him, replacing to drink he just finished.

"No." Kai replied, sipping at the clear amber alcohol in the ice cold tankard and purring. "You and I are going to drink. Then tomorrow I give you the information you want. And after that. . ." She swallowed another mouthful before continuing, turning toward him and catching his chin turning his pale, scarred face toward her. Her green, storm filled eyes meeting the liquid sunshine in his with unforgiving hunger and determination. "I will do everything in my power to stop the madness you unleash. And prince. . ." She closed the distance between their faces to the barest fraction of an inch, slowly pulling her gaze from Nuada's eyes to his lips and back again. Her voice dropping as she moved closer, forcing his back against the bar. "I never loose."

Nuada cracked a small grin at her quite challenge, capturing her lips and shoving her back onto her forgotten stool. His hands still gripping his biceps like iron vices, he broke away growling against her ear. "I look forward to it. . ."

Kai smacked his hands away as if he were no more than a fly. "Drink."

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><p>Translations, Links and Notes:<p>

Ga dom mo mhala agus gach rud ann. Car chuir tu e? (Elven/ Irish Gaelic) = I need my bag and everything in it. Where did you put it?

Bean damnaigh. (Elven/ I.G) = Damn woman.


	13. Chapter 13 Climax

A/n: Wow. Thank you all for your support. I'm sorry if I came off sounding like a whiny... pain in the rear (highly edited. I don't curse.) But that review, until I learned how to have a thick skin when it came to my creations and how to ignore, kept me from writing anything new for two years. So I was understandably annoyed.

On the plus side I am now writing my next story which is to be a departure from the world of fantasy into the world of sci-fi. Not a big jump. I'll admit. The challenge will come from writing it in episodes. Yes it's a Tv show. Something I've never done before. Oh dear me. ;-)

JR

* * *

><p>Chapter 12 Climax<p>

Recap:

Nuada cracked a small grin at her quite challenge, capturing her lips and shoving her back onto her forgotten stool. His hands still gripping his biceps like iron vices, he broke away growling against her ear. "I look forward to it. . ."

Kai smacked his hands away as if he were no more than a fly. "Drink."

**Two bottles later. Nuada's bedchamber.**

Kai laughed darkly, shoving Nuada hard against the wall only to receive growl from the half naked prince. Somewhere between the pub and the rough brick Nuada felt against his skin, his shirt lay forgotten and hers had been ripped in half.

Long pale fingers dug into her red brown curls, holding her almost tenderly to his neck where she was teasing his pulse. Each lick and nibble made his heart beat throb harder as it rushed south like a tidal wave, rouge and uninhibited, flooding his senses more than any person had before. "Kai. . ." Nuada gasped as her fingers slid lower.

"Oh shut up and kiss me!"

Whether it was due to the wine or true desire, the prince did just that, and much more, many times that night. And all day the next day.

**Somewhere in Northern Ireland. On the Outskirts of Bethmoora **

Silence, so complete that not even the lapping of water on the shore or the small birds hopping through the grass were heard was what greeted the conception of the Dichotomies. The moment where sound met silence, dark met light and endings began, and beginnings and ended. Six possibles that became realities in a single moment.

A single momentous moment that was met with thundering, resounding silence.

Around the world beings of different sensitivities felt it, but not many new what it was.

"Auberon." Mara gasped, clutching his shoulder as she sagged to the side. "Did you feel that?"

His arms slid around the woman he loved since the second he first saw her all those many years ago, holding her steady, and feeling her heart pound in unison with his own. "Yes, dearest." He kissed her dark hair before bending down to pick her up. "I did. The beginning and the end began again." He sighed, nuzzling her neck gently. "She'll be here sooner than you think."

**B.P.R.D. Headquarters **

At precisely the same moment both the Princess and Liz bent double, a throb coming from their bellies. "What the heck!"

**Prince's Bedchamber. The next morning.**

Gentle fingertips traced her spine slowly, making goosebumps spread over her tanned frame. Back and forth aimlessly, watching her responses as she slept. The little huffs she made as she dreamed were oddly soothing he found. Her warm breath brushing over his skin, the few locks of hair that were twisted around her face that moved with each exhale, each mark on her seemingly endless skin, for some reason he found them fascinating. But he completely missed the newest marks of "_go deo_", "_ten'oio_", and "_mal'rak_" that circled their ring fingers on their left hands.

"Tickles." She murmured, pulling the soft blanket that pooled around their hips over her shoulders, trapping his hand on her lower back. "Sleep Nuada. It's early." Kai nuzzled his chest softly, causing the silent prince to almost purr in contentment. A small smile sneaking into her countenance was her only response as sleep once again claimed her in its dark embrace. Unknown to either as they surrendered to slumbering dreams, Nuada's hand came to rest on Kai's flat stomach, inches away from the cradle of new life.

Thoughts as sweet as honey and as soft as down that he had never before allowed himself to ponder wandered into his mind. Specters of future days curled around him filled with soft voices singing nectarous lullabies to tiny faces. Within his mind, Nuada looked down at the small bundle in his arms, stunned to see a bitty face looking back at him, eyes as green as new spring grass staring up at him in wonder. A diminutive hand wrapped around his long finger, gnawing on the his fingertip gently and trying to grin at the same time.

"This is what you could have father." A subdued voice spoke within the mirage. "This is what you could yet loose."

**Prince's Bedchamber. Several hours later.**

She was gone. He knew it the moment he woke. The empty feeling that had been embedded within his chest since the day he was banished, was back. Nuada hadn't realized it until it was back, but it had disappeared while he slept with Kai safely ensconced in his arms. A note pinned to his pillow and her scent hanging in the air, were the only proof that she had ever been in the room, let alone in his arms.

He reached for the comforting mental bond that connected him to his sibling, only to feel that bridge had disappeared in the night. Suddenly alone and bereft, he tore the note from it's pinning and opened it. "She kept her word." He murmured seeing the location written within. "She really kept her word."

**County Antrim. Giant's Causeway.**

Kai collapsed, falling to her knees, her stomach rebelling at the transport that took only a moment to get from New York to the basalt columns now under her. Misting rain soaked into her clothes almost instantaneously as she curled, protectively holding her belly. "Oh dear... That doesn't feel good." The cold damp stone dug into her knees, as she rocked back and forth, pulling deep breaths into her protesting lungs, attempting to slow her racing heart and spinning head.

A warm jacket was gently wrapped around her shoulders, it's former owner rubbing her back comfortingly. Another set of arms encircled her, crooning to her soothingly. "It's alright my dear. Take a deep breath. The spinning will pass." Her father brushed her hair slowly. "We need you to be our warrior princess. Can you handle one more fight my child?"

Kai slammed her palm on the stone beneath her, forcing air into her chests, triggering a surge of fiery adrenaline. "Did you get everything I need?" She asked, her voice hollow and cold.

"Everything and more is ready." Auberon sighed sadly, wishing that his only child didn't have to face this alone. But even as he wished, he knew something the prince he watched grow into a man did not. That not all battles were won with might. That not all fights could be won. And there are never any true victors in war, only the side that lost the least. And the king of the summer kingdom was terrified that the cost might be too high for everyone this time.

Her jade eyes flew open, glaring at the unfeeling ground as the rage she needed filled every fiber of her being. "Then so it be written, so it shall be done." She growled, unknowingly uttering the words that first brought the idea of the golden army to birth, causing their eventual creation, bringing this circle of time to a close.

Kai slowly stood, the warmth of the jacket falling away as the sentient earth and sun filled her with the holocaust they contained. This was one of the champions they had waited for since times long past. The blood the earth was soaked with would be avenged. The death the sun had wept to behold would be recompensed. Thunder and lightning cracked through the clear sky, making the ground quake and the sea beyond churn itself. The mist that had soaked her before, now boiled off her heated skin, as she stretched her arms out to her sides, releasing a battle cry into the air, calling the Fae world and anything that answered to it to her aid.

Goblin made armor that was given to her the day she assumed her birthright, spread across her skin, oozing across her skin like primordial goo. Polished until it rivaled the sun for brightness, etched with the insignia of her family and rank, it declared the blood that flowed thick in her veins was every bit as royal as the man she would meet in the chamber of the golden army. It screamed for the world to know that she represented the Fae world as a whole and would stand beside the Son of the Fallen One, the Daughter of Fire, the Son of the water, the Daughter of Metal, and the Son of the Wind as the Daughter of the Earth.

**Bethmoora. Same time.**

"I have done what I can." The angel stood, his long moth eaten and decaying robes moving about him like cobwebs caught in a soft winter wind. "Now give him a reason to live." He moved back to his place in the center of the floor, each footstep sounding like granite scraping across the stone floor.

The silly little goblin, so obsessed with his shiny bit of metal was easily pleased when the spear point dropped to the floor as the angel answered the war cry that hummed trough the air.

Several levels below, the prince pulled his resisting sibling forward through the silent catacombs and halls to the chamber that held his invincible army. His heart pounded in his ears in excitement. He would soon realize the dream of the rebirth of his kingdom. No longer would the Fae hide in the shadows, living in fear of being found out by the humans. Soon it would the humans who dreaded the Fae. Soon they would quake on terror at the sound of the risen army and the nation that commanded it.

The angel met the armored female with a bow as she pulled a bandolier of human made ordinance about her already heavily laden shoulders at the entrance to the chamber filled with slumbering gold soldiers. "You called princess?" He asked, as she returned his bow respectfully. "It is rare for you and I to meet at your crossroads." His sand filled, hissing voice murmured.

"I wish to ask a question, if it is of no trouble my lord."

If the angel could have laughed, he would have. "My lord?" He brushed a wayward hair back into the battle knot at the base of her neck, pleased when she didn't cringe away from his touch like anyone else would have. "We are old friends by now surely." He grinned wickedly in reply to her blank look. His darkened teeth bared with the almost feral grin at the much smaller female as she stood unmoving like a polished amber statue when his long bony fingers traced the edges of her breastplate. "You come to ask one question. There are so many."

"You know what I need answered." She calmly replied, despite the fact that his touch made her skin crawl as if the harbingers of death and decay crawled over her chest in the wake of his fingertips. "Your continued existence depends on the answer as well." Slowly Kai turned her face to him, anger and rage shining like the sun from within her, forcing him back a step, only to have her advance and find her sword resting on the hollow of his throat. "And you will answer or by heaven and earth, I will show you what death truly means..."

He shrank back another step, nodding as he went, stunned as he felt iron leashes being placed of his power by beings more powerful than either one of them. "The stories are true." The angel gasped. "You have been blessed by the gods."

A snarl twisted her lips, her eyes almost glowing in the darkness. "To do their will." She growled, pressing the sword into his skin a bit more. "Now answer the question!" Kai ordered, her voice echoing off the crumbling, cobweb covered stone.

Nuala shook, clutching her belly protectively, as a wave of energy echoed off the walls. Her unseeing brother dug his fingers into the her blue brocade covered arms, undoubtedly leaving bruises. "Please brother. Think about what you're doing." She begged, stumbling over the crumbling ruins and fallen stones that littered their path. "To raise the army is madness. It failed the first time. It would only fail again."

Her brother snarled, yanking her forward another step.

"I cannot touch The Dichotomies, or their parents." The angel grimaced. "I can have no hand in the deaths. If you are killed by another..." He left the statement unfinished.

"Go in peace." She ordered, dropping her sword arm with a tired sigh, the tip pulling from the grey leather of his skin. "I have seen enough death today."

Standing behind her brother and clutching her belly in pain filled despair, Nuala fought back tears as the army of gold glittered in the low light. The small knife that hid within her voluminous sleeve was of little comfort, but that little comfort was enough. Nuada might win the battle but he would not win the day if she had any say in the matter. Their father would not had spent his last breath in vain. This she decided as they took their place on the high platform, gazing out on her brothers dream to wait.

Footsteps on the stairs below them thudded in time with her heart, each bursting in her chest with almost unbearable pain. Stopping only to start again when the next foot fell. Tears threatening to drip from her lashes with every breath.

But then Nuada released her hand, knowing she would follow if only for one last look at her new friends before the end of her world began, stepping forward into the light. Cool fingers laced with her own and stopped her. "Silence princess." The owner whispered. "Do not make a sound. Do not react." The hand quickly found her hidden blade and removed it. "This will do you no good today, my lady."

Hidden in the shadows, all Nuala could see was the cloaked armor and glowing emerald eyes. "Be brave my sister." The figure's hand gently cupped her face, smoothing away the tears kindly. "You will live to see the bairn you carry."

Nuala caught a hushed gasp in her hands, her mind clicking away at the meaning of the words she heard and quickly dropped to her knees. "Be careful your majesty, please. Our world has lost too much these past days." Then she kissed the palm that still held her face with kind benediction. "I do not wish to loose more family."

"From your lips to god's ears, princess." The hand gently pulled her to her feet. "Now stand firm, show no fear."

One quick hug and the figure was gone once more, vanishing in the darkness. But now the princess could breathe once more without her heart beating out of her chest. Now she could stand without shaking. One more deep calming breath and she strode out into the light after her brother with all the grace of the spring that bloomed within her.

Nuala barely paid attention to her brother's words until Abraham stepped forward holding the crown piece aloft. Fear stabbed at her heart as he declared his love with the action and the words he told his large red friend and tossed the piece to her brother.

Adding the last piece to the mockery of a golden crown, Nuada didn't notice Kai silently ascend the stairs to join with the group, her golden armor putting the army to shame. He carefully placed the circle of gold on his head and straightened, addressing the group before him and the soldiers beyond them. "I am Prince Nuada Siverlance. Leader of the golden army. Is there anyone here who would dispute my right?"

Liz and Hellboy released the snaps holding their guns in place as the giant gears began turning, waking the hellfires of Bethmoora and the army with them. "Hey HB, know how to use this?" Kai whispered, holding modified shotgun and heavy filled bandoleer on her shoulder, loaded with Dragon's breath HEI rounds. It almost looked like a toy in his hands, but he grinned wickedly. "Be careful where you aim it." They all turned as the soldiers creaked and clanked to life. All ten thousand on ten thousand. Each one headed for them.

"Kill them." The prince ordered.

Nuala held his arm pleading quietly as Abe innocently announced the betrayal of their deal.

Rubbing their eyes, Kai and Liz both sighed and pulled their weapons. Hellboy checked the rounds in the shotgun, almost exasperated with his friends naivety. "Abe old buddy, we ever get out of this, we gotta talk."

Almost immediately the battle raged around them as soldiers attacked. The incendiary rounds slowed them down more than Liz's bullets did as Hellboy climbed one giant soldier and shot it's head, leaping to the next and repeating the process before he fell and rolled away. "Industrable my ass."

Yards away Johann slid from his suit and took over a soldier, turning it's red hot center blue and attacking the combatants around Liz and Abe. Ripping them to shreds while Red emptied round after round into anything that got close, burning holes through them as if they were made of paper. "Hey! Throw me a bone here!" Red called as the phantom man pulled off a giant golden arm.

Kai climbed onto an arm that slammed down beside her, pulling a sword made from the same gold. Riding it up as the golden man tried to throw her she sliced through it's head, throwing it as far as she could, knowing the destruction they were wrecking wouldn't last forever. For even as Johann threw one into the golden gears, thousands more began climbing the stairs to take their place. And as the fighters took a breath, her fear proved true. The ones they had torn to gears and springs began repairing themselves before the horrified eyes of the ones doing the tearing.

Johann walked to Hellboy as the gears pulled themselves back together and would have sighed tiredly if he could. "Well... I'm out of ideas."

"I got one." Red said calmly. "I challenge Prince Nuada!" He yelled, immediately causing the soldiers to lower their arms away from the challenger and the group behind him. "For the right to command this army!"

The army turned to the royal wearing the crown. "You challenge me? Who are you, to challenge me? You are nobody!" He answered. "You are not royalty!"

"Yes," breathed the princess, still held fast by her brother. "Yes!" She called, breaking free of the prince's grasp. "He is Anung Un Rama! Son Of the Fallen One! He has the right! The challenge must be answered!"

Nuada turned away as if to ignore the challenge and his sister's supporting declaration before Kai stepped into his sight. "By the right of the Queen the of winter and summer kingdoms, by the right of the Princess of the Rom, as a daughter of earth, blessed by the gods of heaven and earth, your wife, I order you to answer Nuada!" She yelled, her lineage clearly displayed in the light that glinted off her armor and the etching it showed. The army retreated to the edge of the lower platform, clearing the way as she held his furious gaze with one full of barely contained rage.

His eyes grew wide as they fell to the markings that circled his ring finger on his left hand. At once his eyes flew to the mirror image on her own, anger filling every pore."Very well!"

Red stepped forward, consoling Liz gently before he turned to Abe. "Don't worry Abe. Not gonna kill him. But I am gonna kick his ass."

Nuada stepped from the high platform onto a lowering gear and began pulling his gloves off, confident in his victory. He grinned, tossing his sword to the large red being before him, who caught it one handed, then flipped onto even footing with his opponent, to await his first angered attack.

It soon became obvious that they were evenly matched. One had greater agility and the other more strength, but both were balanced in speed and determination. Nuada hissed as they broke apart from the first test of each others ability, holding his arm and wincing at the bleeding cut under his tunic.

Abe turned anxiously to the princess, looking at her arm as she gently held it, expecting the blood to stain her sleeve. But there was nothing.

At once the battle raged on. Hellboy catching the prince's weapon of choice with the hook on the end of the sword he held only to have the prince steal it back a moment later before he retreated to the high ground on top of the giant cogs.

Moments later it seemed as if Red was finished between the grinding, unfeeling cogs. Kai silently guided Nuala past her battling brother and into the arm of her lover, their eyes never leaving the cogs until he came up unscathed and smiling. "Hey! Nice ride, huh?" He taunted. And again they battled. Nuada appearing to have the upper hand as Hellboy had lost the sword into the fiery depths.

Again and again Nuada backed Red into a corner and each time he slipped through the unseen hole in the prince's defense.

Smacking the spear to the side, Red caught the royal by the throat in his stone hand and squeezed. "You jumpy, slippery bastard. I gotcha now." He threw Nuada from the spinning cog onto the platform below, following with the spear, pinning it to its owners throat as the royal trembled.

"Kill me." He panted. "You must. For I will not stop. I cannot."

"Sorry pal. I win, you live." He replied, moving the spear away and taking his golden prize. Red stepped over the defeated prince, walking stiffly to his friends.

Kai stepped out of her spot in the shadows to the fallen male in time to see him pull a blade from the belt at his waist. He silently followed Red, raising it above his head, about to bring it down in his back when the small female launched herself between them, catching the blade on her breastplate, as it slid into her chest between the joints of the metal and the spaces of her ribs, just missing her lungs and heart, as she punched him with her metal covered hand. Tossing the knife aside with the other, she slammed her head into his nose, breaking it and gasping as her own snapped and began flowing. "No!" She yelled, spinning to kick his legs out from under him, her own legs throbbing from it.

He caught her bleeding arm and gasped as his hand came back with shimmering ruby blood, knowing her previous claim was now backed with proof. She backhanded him, stunning him for a moment, his chest aching as it bled. "You just figured it out?" She murmured so only he would hear and sent a knee slamming into his groin causing him to crash on the floor. "No King of mine will behave in such a cowardly way as long as I live." She stepped over him, catching his hands in a pair of iron shackles. "Now prince, in my opinion your father was too kind. Spare the rod and spoil the child and all that. Now it's time for my kind of justice."

Yanking him to his feet, Kai turned to the group in time to see Liz melt the crown and the army fall asleep once more. "The humans must never find their way down here." She called. "To the southwest is Dunluce Castle. The Rom are already waiting for you above ground. You are my guests for as long as you wish. And there is to be a festival tonight. I hope to see you all there." And then she and the prince disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Liz asked Nuala, only too see a soft secretive smile in reply as they made their way to the entrance.

**Above ground**

"Check the belt locators! Over there!" Manning yelled, waving the other agents away as the rock door way slid open behind him. "Over there!"

Striding out into the sunlight as if nothing much had gone on since the last time they had seen their boss, Hellboy didn't react much to the scolding of the irate little bureaucrat. "Hey Manning, here to help, as always." He pulled his belt and badge off and held it out to the little man, ignoring the question posed to him. "I quit."

"What are you serious?"

"Looks that way doesn't it?" Liz answered, handing in her own belt, badge and gun still attached.

"What's wrong with you?" Manning asked nervously. "You can't all just quit."

Patting the human's face kindly, Abe turned in his own. "Watch us." Nuala took his hand and began following the pair before them.

Hellboy turned back and snatched his gun from the growing pile, holding it aloft. "On second thought, I think I'll keep this." And then walked away from the sad little man again.

Down the hill Red slid his arm around Liz, holding her close, the wind whipping her hair and his jacket around. "So what you said earlier, about us living anywhere..." She began. The giant rock entrance twisting to watch them leave

"Anywhere. Let's find a place in the country. Clean air, green hills, a yard!" He gestured happily. "With lots of room to grow in! It'll be great for the baby!"

"Babies." Liz corrected softly behind him.

_Babies?_ Red mouthed, confused, before turning back to her. She held up two fingers in confirmation, a wide smile spreading across her face.

* * *

><p>ANs and Translation:

go deo (Elven/ I.G.)= Forever

ten'oio (Fantasy/ Tolkien Elven)= Forever

mal'rak (Fantasy/ Drow Elven)= Forever

Then so it be written, so it shall be done. = Thank you, Yul Brenner and The writers of The Ten Commandments movie. Released in 1956. Directed by Cecil B. De Mille.

Spare the rod, spoil the child. = Partial quote from the bible located at Proverbs chapter 23 verse 13 and 14. This does not in any way condone excessive punishment (read: abuse) but only just and deserved reprimanding tempered by love, justice, and wisdom.

a/n: One more thing just in case anyone hasn't understood this yet, Kai is a empath/seer. She feels things three times. Example, If you got cut and it hurt, Kai would feel your cut three times. Once for before you got hurt, she would see it coming. Once for when you were actually hurting, as an Empath. And once after you experienced the pain as your memory. Same goes for everything a person might feel. That his how she knows how to get under Nuada's skin. She can see and feel everything anyone, especially him, has ever done.

Understandably it's also why she's a tad insane.

JR


	14. Chapter 14 The End & The Epilogue

Hey guys. Long time coming. Thank you for all of the reviews, support, and lessons you've given me since the beginning of this story. I'm sorry I haven't replied to reviews like normal. Things have gotten a bit crazy this month. I hope I see you at the next story!

Chapter 13

Recap:

"Babies." Liz corrected softly behind him.

_Babies?_ Red mouthed, confused, before turning back to her. She held up two fingers in confirmation, a wide smile spreading across her face.

The festival grew as the night crept in. Music grew louder and food was brought out until there was no space anywhere on the makeshift tables. And still Kai did not come out of her wagon. Nuada was forced to sit between two guards on a bench outside it waiting for her. And he had a perfect view of the festivities. Of his sister laughing and dancing with tiny human and half breed children, or kissing the aquatic being she chose as mate, even soiling her hands to help with the preparation of food.

He turned away, ignoring the stiffening of his guards and the iron that still bound him, only to find the red one and his mate curled by one of the many roaring bonfires, an ale in his hand and an herbal tea in hers.

One of the guards yanked his chain and growled when the bound prince snarled at him. The other placed a hand over that of his companion. "Enough my friend. You heard the Little Queen." He took the chain from the other male before turning to Nuada. "She is in with the healer. It normally does not take this long though. We are worried. I apologize if that makes us..." He looked around searching for the right word. "Temperamental." Nuada nodded.

"She should be out soon. Then if the elders and councilors don't require her, she might be able to eat something."

"Is she always this busy?" The prince asked softly.

The talkative male laughed. "Yes. It worries many of us. This would not be the first time she has collapsed from hunger or fatigue."

One of the older children ran up with tankards of mead in her hands and handed one to each of his watchers before tentatively holding out the third she held to him. "Thank you." He murmured softly before taking it from her shaking hands. No sooner did it leave her hand then she took to flight back to the tables of food and the scuttling women that gave her another task. "I never knew the Rom still existed."

"Exist and most of us remain hidden." He motioned to a few that were obviously not human. "It's easier for some. But here, no one needs to hide. Here we are one. We are family!" One of the little ones came and crawled into his lap. "My son." The little boy waved with webbed fingers. "Here we are safe." He looked off to two men in armor that were headed their way. "So safe, even the gods see fit to walk among us!"

The guard stood, bowing to the two men. "My lords Thor, Loki!"

Thor clasped his arm in greeting. Loki following his example before glaring at the seated prisoner. "You'll have to excuse my brother, prince. While I know the Little Queen could handle the likes of you easily, he's a bit protective of those he likes. And you stabbed one of the few people he cares about." Thor smiled and turned to the guard. "Is she in with the healer?"

The door on the wagon swung open and Kai bolted from inside, tugging a loose shirt over her bandages. "No I am not! She's a crazy old lady who wants to put me on bed rest until her grandchildren are born."She yelled back at the wagon. "It's good to see you Loki." She hugged them both, wincing as her wounds stretched and pulled. "Thor."

Loki pulled up her shirt, exposing the bandages. "Thor, can you heal her?"

He gently prodded the wounds, ignoring the growling royal. "Maybe, if she takes it easy. Doesn't strain herself. Especially with the babes on the way." He studied the bandages. "But that will not be easy with the rebuilding."

"Then she'll come back with us!" And suddenly Nuada's world stopped spinning. "To Asgard!"

She smiled softly at the two men as Thor quickly eased the pain in her arm and chest. A quick burn as he applied the healing arts he knew and sealed the wounds. Hissing as their skin knitted closed, she patted Loki's face kindly. "Before I even think about it, this war camp needs music, I need food, and I need to pass judgment on the spoiled one."

Loki grinned wickedly and leaned his tall frame down, whispering against her ear, brushing her hair back behind her shoulder. In that one moment, something snapped within the chained prince. He bolted up, pushing between the woman and the much to close god of mischief. He barely felt the hand that caught his sleeve, but he felt the soft lips that pressed against his own. She held him still, pressed against him despite what he tried to do, to her, to the rest of world. She was still holding out one tiny thread of hope to him.

When she pulled away, she left the taste of honey on his lips. "He's baiting you Nuada." Her breath was warm against his cool skin, like the winter sun on fallen snow. "Come. I must speak with the council."

**Around the council fire**

"A thousand years before the prince and princess of the winter kingdom were born there was a prophecy handed down by the Norn to the kings of summer and winter. It stated very simply that there would be a joining of the two houses, a marriage alliance. That peace would rule because of it. And so a contract was written. That the first child of the summer king would wed a child of the winter ruler." Kai sighed, turning to Nuada and his sister as they sat on one of the logs that had been pulled close to the flames.

"One day the king of the summer saw a young gypsy girl dancing by the flames of a fire." She smiled over to her parents, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders as they held each other. "He fell in love with the girl, just past the age of innocence. For years he courted her and gradually she came to love him. They wed under a star filled summer sky and conceived a child. Nine months later, the contract between the kingdoms was sealed with the blood of a newborn girl child."

"And a few days ago that contract was fulfilled." Her hands found their way to her still flat belly. "Two kingdoms now one!" Kai motioned to her father and to the seated prince. Reaching her, they held out their hands to her, joining them when she held them up. "Now we work to rebuild our world!" Music broke out at her announcement. Cries of joy and hope soon joining them as the drums began thumping out a beat and the fiddles began singing.

Shadowed golden eyes drank her in as the celebration began. They soaked up the sight of the firelight dancing in her hair as she turned to the smaller group of elders, telling them of the offer the gods made, even as she held his hand tightly. Each word hammering in the fact she might actually leave. And what seemed like hours later she drew him into the conversation.

"Now," Kai smiled softly, squeezing his hand in support. "I have a few ideas of what would be suitable punishment for the prince, but before I decide, I would appreciate your guidance."

**Time lapse of the coming months**

The elders argued for hours, until night fell and the shadows embraced them. And finally it was decided. Each day he would work to rebuild along side everyone else, no title, no authority but that which he was given, no servants. He would be guarded day and night. Red volunteered for that detail with a smug little grin, Nuada remembered, punching one of the walls of his cell in frustration.

He worked until every muscle ached and his vision blurred, repairing everything from the giant cogs that worked the rest of the city to the crumbling walls. Each day he saw Kai as she shouldered the same work that she asked of anyone else as her belly swelled, expanding as the children within her grew. Her afternoons were spent with the council, deciding how to rebuild their world. The gold from the soldiers went into buying land and supplies, sometimes even bribes. These meetings, which humans attended by means of the technology that the fiery one and the one called Abe oversaw, he was forced to watch. Nuala one one side and himself on the other. Not a word was he allowed to say before the council, but they took care to listen to him rave as soon as they were dismissed for the evening.

It soon became obvious that his sister was a much wiser politician than he could ever hope to be. She could see the greed that threatened their newly formed and tenuous freedom, from the humans and fae alike. Between Kai and Nuala, they skirted the pitfalls with a disarming smile.

He had to laugh when Kai muttered a quote from a long dead human. "Walk softly and carry a big stick." She would remind herself at least once a day, but especially on the two days a week when she held court in the market places. She would bring food to those who need it and listen to their problems until she could barely stand. Finally his sister and the fiery human took the tools from her hands or called for himself or Beriothien to carry her at the end of each day and forced her to her modest quarters for a bath, that they were shooed away for, and rest.

And at the end of the day, after she fell asleep, his sister brought him to her room to speak to his unborn children. That was the highlight of his day. Seeing how they grew within her. Touching their young minds. Telling them stories of his world in his language. Even reading the fairy tales of the humans that he saw laying on her lap one day. He would gently touch the soft baby quilts and clothes that somehow made their way into her quarters and imagine the children he created with her.

Abe accepted him easily enough, using him as a dictionary for all things fae. Creatures, customs, places, things long forgotten, tales of heroes long dead, histories, and so much more were pulled from him with a tenacity that would put an ogre to shame. And so each evening he would have dinner with his sister's mate. In turn he learned much of the outside world, things that as a casual observer he had missed. Similarities between the two worlds, human and fae.

Red was less accepting at first. At least until the hatred of the close minded began to ignite. Kai, his sister, and the Red one's mate had gone into town around the sixth month of their pregnancies, and someone had recognized them. Word spread like wildfire and soon a mob surrounded them. Angered words and threats flew like sparks. Although the women were more than capable of protecting themselves normally, in their pregnant state, they were more vulnerable. One human threw a punch, another a bad apple, another a rock, another a rotten tomato. Kai had stepped before the other two and taken the first hit, but refused the fight back.

Nuada had appeared from the shadows where he watched and pointed a sword at the man who hit his mate. Kai simply placed a hand on his raised arm and pushed it down. Turning to the crowd, she looked out at them without hate. Seeing only fear in them, she sighed heavily. "Remember this day. We did not start the violence done here." Green eyes turned up to meet his burnished gold ones, only faith and trust in their depths. "Let's go home. I think we've had enough excitement."

Liz silently threatened him every time he was near. Bits of her would burst into flame, scorching him if he was too close. That still didn't change. But at least the glare that accompanied it diminished at times. Not often though.

When Kai collapsed from exhaustion, it felt like the seeds of like that grew within him screamed in pain. She was seven months along and he was worried. Her mother ordered bed rest and like the meek, mild lamb she most defiantly was not, she obeyed. How long did human females take? Elves took a year or more sometimes. Having heard that humans took less time, Nuada was concerned.

And then there was that... that... Loki... He almost never left her side every time he was on earth. That alone was enough to make him use the box that humans called a TV and even get one of the gypsys to explain the internet. After seeing the destruction in New York, Nuada stuck as close to her as his guard detail and her bed rest would allow. He saw her smile, and laugh. More than she had ever done with him.

It was then she asked if he would mind taking over the court hearings in the market, with her father as councilor of course, since she and his sister were now waddling like ducks with lower back pain and reflux and a list of other problems. But she insisted that he have dinner with her and tell her everything that happened. Then she smiled. When he told here about the round little dwarf who yet again complained about the cabbages in the marketplace, she laughed so hard that she snorted juice from her nose. When he told her about the grieving mother, he held her while she cried for the women. In time his guard detail was relaxed, if only around her.

One day he came in raving, brushing spoiled cabbage from his tunic. "This is indeed a thankless job. You listen and you do your best to help and they throw rotten food at you!"

She covered her face, trying to hide her laughter, almost rolling on her small bed. "It has taken you how many centuries to figure that out?" Then she hugged him, cleaning the wilted leaves off him. Once the greenery had been cleaned off him, her small hands took his while she stared at his face. At once as if making a decision, she kissed him, soft and tender still tasting of honey. When she pulled away, he followed, sliding onto the small pallet bed with her and wrapped his arms around her waist. After a while she broke the peaceful silence. "I hear you talking to them at night, you know?"

"You never said anything." The prince whispered, curling his fingers into her hair. "I will stop if you desire."

Fingertips grazed his arm over her swollen belly while the silence stretched to infinity before she answered. "No." Turning to him, she smiled. "They need to know their father. To know more than just what I can teach them."

When he couldn't stand it, the silence and undefined closeness when the memories of her playfulness with the dark god were so vivid, he asked a question that clawed at his belly. "The elders approached me a month ago. They asked if it wouldn't be wiser if we, what is the human word? Divorced?"

The quilt that covered her lower half made it's way to her shoulders as she turned to face him, tucking her head under his sharp chin. "And what did you say?"

"That it was your decision and only if it would make you happy."

A soft chuckle and two murmured words were all he received in reply. "You're learning."

Chapter 14

Recap:

The quilt that covered her lower half made it's way to her shoulders as she turned to face him, tucking her head under his sharp chin. "And what did you say?"

"That it was your decision and only if it would make you happy."

A soft chuckle and two murmured words were all he received in reply. "You're learning."

**Outside the birthing room**

Nuada was figiting. His folded legs bouncing against the carved marble floor as all three of the prospective fathers waited to be let in the birthing room. Loki smirked, his face set in stone as he waited, plotting. It was what he did best after all.

People kept thinking that he had designs on Kai, which was quite laughable. His taste was closer to women with dark hair and sparkling dark eyes. Kai knew this, every day they spent together, she laughed at his inability to talk to the one girl he actually wanted. Silver tongued indeed, she'd say. Then she'd force him to laugh at himself. Between Thor and Kai, he was finally learning what it meant to be... human, he supposed. They were his best friends and he couldn't ask for a better brother, as a sister, if he could choose, it would be Kai.

So it only made sense that he was testing Nuada. So far he was a mildly disappointed. The prince was growing as a person, as a potential ruler, but that didn't mean it was necessary to like the fool.

Thor bumped him, nearly sending him to the floor in his unchecked excitement. "This is a glorious day!" He boomed.

Hellboy flinched at the sound. Mara and the specialists she had all but kidnapped from the human and the fey world, had been keeping the fathers informed at every stage of the babies development, and with each passing day he worried more. He wasn't normal, neither were his children.

Liz had turned into an emotional fireball and torched the rooms that they had been provided with, turning it to ash, when she was informed that a natural birth was out of the question. Kai, who seemed to have no emotional upsets during the entire pregnancy, and Nuala, who hadn't grown any larger during hers, found him in the hall surrounded by terrified cats. With a laugh, they pulled they fiery woman into a freezing shower. She yelled, they yelled back.

The things you could get away with when you were pregnant were amazing, he decided. Like stealing all the chocolate cake and no one said a word. Yelling was another one.

"Silence Thor!" Loki ordered as another woman rushed through the room carrying towels. "Two of them are only human! They are fragile!"

Nuada had enough and stalked to the door that barred the men and hammered on it. "Open this door or I will tear it from its hinges!"

When the door swung open and Mara stood like a bouncer from Hades barring the princes way. A scream split the air and the two remaining fathers sprang to their feet. "It seems prince, the mothers are calling." She turned to the entire group. "Fathers, take your places."

In a blink Nuada was behind Kai, on the bed, holding her as she strained. Her fingers wrapped around his and squeezed until his hand began to creak under the strain.

**Hours later**

All three fathers held a set of twins in their arms, each a boy and girl pair. The lights set low while the mothers slept.

Nuada sat next to the bed Kai rested in, his son and daughter curled together on his lap. His son was golden like the woman that captured him without trying, their daughter looked like a miniature of her aunt.

"They're not connected, Nuada." Kai whispered, as if she knew what he was thinking. "Not like you and Nuala. They should have individual names."

"Nuana and Kainan." He replied, brushing their hair. His eyes never strayed from them as he brushed the newborns hair. "Connected to us but individual."

Reaching for his hand, Kai smiled. "Showing wisdom my mate."

"Am I?" He looked up, meeting her glittering eyes. "Am I still your mate?"

"My mate, their father. For better or worse."

"I've erred so much though."

She laughed softly. "A bit."

"I wish my father could be here to see his grandchildren. Of all the things I've done, I regret his death the most."

Her fingertips traced his lips, warming the cool marble of his skin. "Ask the Dichotomies."

"What?"

She smiled, scooting to the far side of her bed and patting the now empty space, waiting for him to climb in. "I'd like to introduce the next generation. Nuana, the Beginning, and Kainan, the Ending. Meet your daddy."

**The end... of this story.**

Epilogue

"So here's where I give you an overview or what happened after this story." Kia laughed, rocking little Nuana to sleep. "I married him... again. You, your brother, and your cousins both adopted and blood, are the six Dichotomies. Do you know what they are little one?" The little princess blinked and cooed. "That's right. The Beginning, End, Wisdom, Foolishness, Love, and Hate. These are what you'll rule over when you grow up."

The king of the old winter kingdom smiled from the doorway. His eyes no longer the tired yellow of many summers long since passed, but bright polished gold as he looked at the four adult females that filled the room. His two grandsons resting in his arms, distracted him by yanking on his beard. A year ago he never could have imagined that not only would he see his family restored, but also be holding the next generation.

After their children were born, the former team of the BPRD and they're royal mates threw themselves into the rebuilding of the fae world. As a result, the protected forests and national parks of every country doubled before the three sets of twins were a month old. By the time they were a year old, all cities that housed less than five thousand humans had been rebuilt and redesigned to have a nonexistent carbon footprint. Within five years all but the largest human cities had been destroyed and rebuilt to be stronger and healthier.

Farms, that since the great depression had been pumping harmful chemicals into the planet, were now scrubbed clean of anything man made and producing crops faster that were larger than anything the farmers had ever seen before.

By the time the children were six years of age, crime of any kind was almost unheard of. Wars ceased and disappeared. Violence was a thing of the past.

"Nuada..." Kai began, her hands trembling as she tried to sip the tea her mother had dropped off that morning. "We need to talk."

His breath froze in his throat, his fingers hanging in midair as he panicked. After six years of marriage and two children, was she finally done with him? Would her human blood give her the strength to walk away even if her elf genetics tried to force her to stay? He schooled his face into a blank mask. "Yes, my love?"

"I know we haven't really discussed any more children..." She sipped the hot liquid, staring straight ahead, not looking at him in case he reacted as poorly as she feared. "But I'm pregnant."

Nuada stood abruptly, and Kai felt her heart drop to the floor. Tears filled her eyes as she placed her cup on the table. She would never regret Kainan or Nuana, but they were created from a night of too much alcohol, and Nuada was a wonderful father. He was kind and compassionate with them. She had hoped that the little one that rested within her had been produced from love, that it's father would love it just as much as he... It was no longer fair to think like that.

She hadn't told the twins, but it seemed as if they already knew. That morning they had laid their small heads on her belly and said hello. It had been such a tender moment that she dared to hope that

Nuada would at least accept a third child. But now she prepared for the worse.

Nuada stared at her in shock. He hadn't noticed the changes before, but now he saw that her clothing was tighter, her face softer. She held her hands protectively over her stomach. Now he noticed that her tea smelled of ginger, lavender and honey. It was little things that he had missed with the twins, that he saw now. Now he had a chance. A chance to do all the things that he had ached to do with her during her first pregnancy. To be the mate she deserved during those months.

"How long?" He croaked.

"A few weeks."

He smiled, feeling her anxiety, as he gently cupped her chin and pulled her up to face him. Pressing a soft kiss to her lips, he brushed her hair. "I think we should go celebrate."

"What?"

"Nuala will watch the children. Because you and I are going to our quarters, and I do not intend to leave until we have properly celebrated."


End file.
